Field Trips Starting!

One thing I love about K12 are the fabulous field trips. There's already been a couple activities, but October will give us the opportunity for an outing pretty much every week.

This week, we'll go to the zoo. Then, we'll see Phantom of the Opera at Kingsbury Hall. A couple Halloween/Pumpkin Patch trips (which my boys are not quite too old for,) later in the month. The boys are excited for these adventures--it's just great to get out of the house sometimes and see the world around you.

That's one of the greatest advantages homeschooling offers, isn't it? And K12 does it beautifully.

I'm afraid we won't get too much school work done this week though. Monday we'll be at Primary Children's Hospital for what I expect will be at least half the day (our first appointment starts at 7:00 a.m. ~ oy!), for Charlie to see a cardiologist who specializes in Marfan's syndrom. Then on Wednesday both the boys will see their allergist for help with asthma and allergies. Then the zoo on Friday.

Um, yup. Not a lot of time for school, but we'll do our best. That's another thing that's great about homeschooling ~ some weeks you just don't get a lot of schoolwork done and you know what? That's okay too.

Have a great week everyone!

Activities

I think it's important for families who homeschool to get out there and participate in a variety of activities. I admit that so far, neither the boys nor I have made any real connections at these activities, nevertheless, that too is a work in progress.

Yesterday, our school had March Marble and Math Madness. This was probably the third K12 activity that we have attended, not including Tennis Club. It was the best one so far.

Charlie was the photographer for these shots of yesterdays' events.

Not so much in what we did (the boys probably enjoyed The Children's Museum best of all) but because we all made some connections.

We met people we've seen at other events and were able to feel that friendly, comfortable sensation of belonging. We are very slowly building relationships and making friends.

We need to do this a lot more, I think, so that those friendships can really stick. I think many families that homeschool tend to get stuck in the comfort zone of their own home. It is so easy to do. But I think it's important not only for the children, but for the moms as well.

Tomorrow I'll start going back to Tami's playgroup. She's changed the day from Friday to Thursday which makes me happy because it'll be easier for me to attend now. And I really need that association.

Even the photographer needs to get in the picture now and then.

I encourage you to reach out and make some connections of your own. It's worth the effort. I promise!

Xan and his favorite gold marble which, unfortunately, did not make it home with him.

Flexibility

Last time I posted I quoted my friend Tami who had commented here that she was caught up and was now cutting back on the amount of school she was doing. I thought that meant she was nearly totally done with their schooling. But I was mistaken.

Tami only strives to reach that 80% benchmark K12 requires by the end of the year in order to order your next years' supplies--this is advantageous because it means you'll get your next years' supplies in July or August, rather than waiting until those months to even put in your order.

Then, Tami has the ability to continue working that last 20% over the summer months with her kids. The advantage to doing that is that the family never entirely loses it's routine and the kids don't fall out of knowledge. 

At first, I thought I really needed that long summer break, but in closer examination, I think that could perhaps be detrimental to both the boys AND me. By only doing 20% of the course work over the summer (and even then it can be pretty laid back as everything that's accomplished at that point is just gravy, so to speak) we can still enjoy a relaxed summer without losing all the hard-earned knowledge.

So, we've decided to follow in Tami's footsteps!

We'll be homeschooling year 'round, doing 80% between August and May and 20% or less between May and August. 

I talked it over with my boys to get their opinion. Of course, they aren't thrilled at the idea of having to do school at all during the summer, but I also think they can see the positive side of it too. I think we can all agree, this is a win/win for us.

I'll be sure to let you know how it goes!

Decision Time

The time has come to decide whether K12 is working for us or not. Should we stay with the program? Or should we try a different homeschooling approach? Or should we re-enroll the boys in a bricks-and-mortar school?

And the decision is ... We will stay with K12.

Amazingly, it really wasn't a decision at all. It just is. We are a K12 family.

Though I was surprised by my boys' response. They want to stay with the program.

I hope we have a better year next year. I feel confident we will. 

Did you happen to see Tami's comment from my last blog? She wrote:

"We have caught up to where I want so we now adjusted our days to k12. Tayler will Tue Wed Thur Fri, and Tanner and Teralyn will k12 on Tue Wed Thur only. This gives them days to do other things. Gardening time is coming up next week and other things we want to do."

This year we really didn't figure out a good schedule for school until January. And the boys didn't grasp their responsibility in their education until perhaps this last month or so--thanks to Love & Logic.

Next year though, I think we'll all have a much better idea of what to expect--not only from the program, but from ourselves. 

I kind of can't believe that I am going to willingly take on another year of homeschooling, but I also can't imagine it any other way. This is just how it is. We are a K12 family.

How about you?