It's Official

We turned in our affidavit, so we are officially homeschoolers! I was elated the day we turned it in! When we went to get it notarized the woman at the magistrate's office said "you're homeschooling?" I said "yes". She threw her hands up to her head as if she had a headache, winced and shook her head. I asked my husband if he loved the way people so boldly display their disapproval with our choices regarding OUR children.
Other than taking care of the legalities, we have been spending time organizing and rearranging our "playroom" - converting it to our school/rescource room. It didn't take much work. It seems we've had a homeschool room here all along. Who knew? We have been picking up some supplies and ordering a few things from ebay for a few months. Now, we are going to start on the more expensive curricula. We are borrowing some of our school's materials, but it is incomplete. We will be using it as a review/ supplement. I want to make sure I cover the same material they do in case he goes back at some point.
They gave us:
Harcourt Math
Scott Foresman Reading
Voyages in English
We plan on using:
Math U See (Gamma & Delta)
The Story of The World Volume 1
Real Science 4 kids Level 1
Abeka Reading 4
Sequential Spelling 1.

The SF reading is okay. We are planning on completing the skills and vocabulary sections, but some of the stories are lousy so we will skip them and only read the good ones. My goal is to help my kids ENJOY reading. When I read some of what they are forced to read at school I think it is no wonder they hate it.

Harcourt Math covers a lot of material. We are going through it rather quickly right now and we will slow down later. It is great for showing me exactly wheat he knows and doesn't know. My goal in this subject is to increase his proficiency. Of course the schools are forced to focus on the standardized testing so the kids get a smattering in many areas. I like the idea of exposing them to a lot of information, but I would rather have him highly proficient in fewer areas than vaguely familiar with many areas.

Voyages In English - I like it. We are going to use it alone for now and we'll see what happens.


I'm also planning on starting early with our daughter. She is only 18 months old, but she loves school time! I am preparing "school" activities for her as well. So far she loves playing with a felt board and "writing". I think later this year she will do well with matching shapes, colors, and sorting. We might try Slow and Steady Get Me Ready.