We're looking forward to many aspects:
Sleeping late: Both Elliot and YaYa (and their mom) really like their sleep. Cut their sleep hours short, and you have some cranky kids on hand. One day last February, we had a snow day, and school starte 2 hours late. That morning, we slept until we woke up on our own (no alarms, no "wake up. . .wake up. . . we have to get ready for school. . . wake up. . . wake up. . . " just a casual awakening. We ate a leisurely breakfast, the kids played in the snow for a little bit, we finished getting ready for school, and we watched the first 10 minutes of Ellen, and we laughed. Hard. Then we got in the car to go to school. YaYa said, "That was the best morning we've ever had." She was right--there was no rushing, no pushing, no hurrying. That was the morning that YaYa "bought in" to the idea of homeschooling. We're looking forward to mornings like that. Our official start time will be 9:15 a.m.
Field trips: We plan to do a lot of learning through field trips. In fact, on our first day of school, August 17, we are taking a field trip. We are going to the Bob Bullock Texas History Musuem. The museum offers a thorough look at all of Texas History. Since the 4th grade social studies curriculum is Texas History, we'll be getting a great overview. After our visit, the kids will each have to choose a person, event, or time period that interests them, and they will begin their first research project. There will be plenty more field trips during the year, but that's our first one.
Reading and Writing: We're going to participate in real reading and writing workshops done the way Nancie Atwell advocates in her book, In the Middle.
We're going to have several educational vacations: to Nacogdoches for the Ghosts of Nacogdoches trail (a hiking trail my uncle blazed through the town with a lot of stops to learn about the history of the oldest town in Texas); to Goliad, Gonzales, and the Alamo to learn about the "formation" of Texas; to various parts of Texas to learn the different geographies (the coast, the hill country, the forest). . . and more to come. . .
Socialization: Both kids will continue their involvement in gymnastics. Elliot works out 9 hours a week, and YaYa works out 11 hours a week. They will be active in church activities as well. We may find another outlet or two for their socialization.
Music: They will continue their piano lessons with pianist extrodinaire, "Autnie" Carla McElhaney. We will schedule practice time into our school day, and they will really take off with their piano playing.
Project-Based Learning: I will be creating cross-curricular projects based on the kids' interests and learning levels.
We've planned 10 lunches that are healthy, that they like, and that I'm willing to make. We'll rotate those lunches every two weeks.
We're going to plant a garden.
We're going to tidy the house and empty the dishwasher before we start school every day.
We will begin our day with a short devotional, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a song.
We're going to make "school" shirts with our school name (Frontier West) and our mascot (Cowboys).
Sweet Elliot told my aunt that he was most excited about knowing he was going to have the best teacher ever this school year.
There is a lot that's going to be great!
We can't wait to get started!
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