A New Year, A New Plan

Not that anyone else is reading this, but for my own reflection later, here is the plan for the 06-07 school year.

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First, I have to say the state of Georgia has very laid-back requirements for homeschooling families. I called the board of education in my county this morning, to get the registration process started. I was told I have to file a letter of intent to homeschool, then send in monthly attendance records (which they send me). No review of our portfolio, no end-of-year evaluations... Strange, I say. I think I shall follow Sunshine State standards, though, and have the girls evaluated at the end of each school year by a "real" teacher, just for our own peace of minds.

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So, this year: We initially talked about using the entire curriculum from K12, since we really looked into it when we were planning on enrolling in FLVA. We realized it was quite an expense for the online support and planning in addition to the curriculum and manipulatives. But we figured it was still considerably less than private school, plus Roni could go at her own pace.

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But after we moved, I found a homeschool group here that has a co-op. And I really like the group. And I think a co-op would help keep me on task (at least with a couple subjects, which leads to better scheduling all around) and give the girls an opportunity for social/classroom interaction they wouldn't have by learning completely at home. And I'm glad that we hadn't yet ordered the curriculum from K12.

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As I was online ordering the book for Geography (Our Father's World), I noted the prices of the other curricula. And I realized that we could save about a thousand dollars if I mixed and matched, rather than go with the entire program from K12. So, we are using Rod & Staff (and Enchanted Learning) for Geography [with the co-op], Handwriting, Music & Art. I ordered music and art for both girls, so we can include the little one in our daily work.

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We are doing a couple other classes with the co-op as well. For History, we are using a lot of stuff from Enchanted Learning, as well as The Complete Book of World History. For Spanish, we are using Spanish Everyday. And I don't know if there is a particular book for Science because we haven't started yet. If Roni can't get into the (already full) Science class, then I think we can get by using Enchanted Learning for science all year.

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We are sticking with K12 for Language Arts and Math, since those two subjects are so important and we really liked the challenging lessons. We ordered 2nd grade for both subjects (figuring a strong basic foundation is most important, so some repetition is good), but we are willing to purchase the 3rd grade materials if she gets through it all quickly. I think, though, that it would be best to have her learning branch out a bit to keep her interested, and keep her on a steady schedule, rather than letting her rocket through the math and language arts, as she has been.

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We are also going to sign Roni up for piano lessons and both girls up for dance/pre-ballet. Not to mention, their monthly Little Flowers meetings.

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So, we've got a full schedule starting up. But, I am excited! And the girls are enjoying making new friends. And best of all, I am certain that we are making the best decisions for our girls for right now. Which is a welcome change to my uncertainty of last year.

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I think having some regular support is going to help me immensely and really make a world of difference for my children and their education. And well, that is an answer to prayer.

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God Bless You.