In the Immortal Words of Alice Cooper--"School's Out For Summer"!

As you know, I homeschooled for the first time this year. Yeah. What an experience! I don't mean that in a bad way but it was definitely a challenge. We decided last July to homeschool. I had already registered Lil B for school. So here we are. It's July. And we have no clue what we are doing. Awesome. I start perusing websites that sell homeschool curricula. Did I mention that we had no idea what we were doing? So I start asking questions of other homeschooling parents. I read what experts say. One recommended this. Another recommended that. Still another would recommend something else. Here's where knowing that we had no idea what we were doing is very important. Because we didn't. And we were a little confused. One expert said that I should understand my child's learning style before deciding. Hello!?!?!? I sent him to school to learn. Homework was a nightmare. Intellectually, he is above his peer group, but that didn't help me when it came to this. It's was long about this time that I first started to doubt my abilities. I realized that I didn't really know him anymore. Panic sets in. How can I not know my own child? Hyperventilating ensues. Where's my little paper bag? Then I read that I didn't need to know his learning style. WHAT?!?!?! It was right around this time that I realized that the experts didn't know jack about my kid. At least I knew more than that. So I start obsessively watching him, monitoring him, documenting his every move. Just call me "Stalker" "Concerned Mom". I asked his opinion. I read. A lot. By the end of August, we were ready to go.
Here's where I discovered that education is not exact. Some of the things that I wasn't sure would work for us actually worked out brilliantly. Some of the things I was sure were perfect weren't worth the paper they were printed on. Some of the things that were ho hum were exciting when presented in the right manner and some of the things that seemed promising fell flat. Of course, some things worked just as I planned all along. For the most part.
Sooooo...the Friday before Memorial Day was our last day of school for the year. WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Take a little breather and then start the curricula hunt again. But this time I know what I'm doing. Ummmm...maybe.

Peace,
Jen
AKA The Mommy