Rohan finished up kindergarten at our local public elementary school. I’ve had issues with him being there since a few weeks in. I know my kiddo needed more of a challenge, more stimulation, more attention and freedom to think the way he thinks and be who he is.
Now, with his interest in art, there is an art school that looks promising for grade two (if we completely fail at homeschooling). There are also a few private schools as well as a Montessori school, all that are out of my budget unless we magically qualify for a scholarship.
For now my plan is to homeschool/unschool first grade and see how it goes from there. My mom brought up a good point. My work life is getting busier and the travel could be an issue, but honestly I feel like we can make it work somehow. I’m looking at paying for 2 or 3 days a week, at the Montessori school in the next town over. So, feel free to donate 2 grand a month to me for that. #preciateya
As far as homeschooling goes, I’m very excited about:
- Empowering Ro to learn how he feels comfortable
- Seeing him thrive when allowed to be himself
- Bonding with the lil monster
- Undoing the weird, aggie, boxed in, ‘murca, traditional gender roley headspace that public school Kindergarten put him in
Worried about:
- Work/life time management
- Equal kid time with both littles and jealousy
- Ruining his amazing little brain
Completely ignoring:
- The fact that I have no idea what I’m doing, can barely add 2+2, and skipped 99% of science classes
- How anyone else besides my lil family feels about the decision
Homeschooling/Unschooling/Lifeschooling/Worldschooling Plan
We are doing a healthy blend that feels good for us.
Homeschooling with workbooks and tools:
- Reading / Vocab
- Writing
- Maths
The practical virgo in me needs him to get a solid grip on these three, just for my own comfort and a way to log progress. He is wicked good in math, and takes no time to think just knows the answers. I’m behind him counting on my fingers so he won’t see me. Reading he is at beginning 1st grade level. I want to be tiger mom about this because I love to read, but I’m biting my tongue and letting him lead. His interest in reading seems to be growing now. Writing he needs improvement, and he knows it. He just wants to illustrate stories and not write them out first.
Unschool/Lifeschool/Worldschooling following Ro’s lead:
- Any and Everything else including
- Library almost daily, I’m sure
- Computer skills (vs tablet skills)
- All Arts – Following Rohan’s lead
- All Sciences – through cooking, gardening, youtube, kits and games
- P.E. – Martial arts class, soccer and swimming lessons , yoga & meditation, playground trips
- Money concepts, Household Maintenance
- Field Trips: hiking, waterpark, museums, acquariums, etc.
- Worldschooling via family vacations
When I asked Rohan what he wanted to learn in first grade he said…and I quote verbatim:
- how cars are made. not toy cars, real cars.
- why stores go out of business and how to make them go back into business
- how to play with toys on youtube like ryan and make more money than mommy and daddy
- aliens and evidence of their invasions
- science experiments
- how to talk Spanish and Japanese
- how to create a black hole that sucks up aliens
- everything about outer space and all the universes
- how to write because I’m not good at that and how to write cursive like mommy
- i want to learn about all the places on the globe at grandma’s house
- how to spell words
- how to play baseball
- how to draw more things
- how to hula hoop and jump rope
- how to get money even though I’m 5 but I’m almost 6
- how to build a lego bow tie (I blame Geoff for this)
- how to grow big very fast by drinking milk or eating meat or something
- how to be an artist before I grow up
- how to mow the lawn without daddy
Wowza!!! Pretty ambitious for 1st grade, no? I think we’ll sit down together and make a plan that feels good to him and “realistic” to me. I am SO grateful to have my parents close by to help me when needed.
Budget Considerations
So, yeah…I refuse to go broke trying to teach a first grader. Curriculum are ridiculously expensive. Then there’s Pinterest which has lots of free options, but you have to search and save…it’s just annoying.
I’m keeping it simple. Here is what I’ve purchased so far:
…yeah… that’s it.
But I’m going to purchase:
- Lots of paper
- Writing Tablet
- Sheet protectors and erasable markers
- More arts and crafts supplies
- Workbooks for language arts
- Laminator
And I’m going to do another round of throwing away all their crap. ::sigh:: I dunno how it accumulates so damn fast!
Trying to convince myself NOT to buy this: Teacher Planner despite it being SO cute and SO useful looking and SO colorful!! If I can convince Kaya to be homeschooled too, then I’ll be able to justify purchasing it (or maybe I’ll just buy it anyway cuz…look at it!) So, I keep asking Kai if she wants to stay home to learn like Rohan and she hits me with one of these:
But when I say okay, who’s ready for pre-school!? Who wants to go learn at a school far away from mommy and brother, alll by herself alll day long with no bunnybunny (her lovey) and no tablet… She’s like:
Brat!
Anyhow, I’m a homeschooling mom now!! #nervous #excited How about you?
I hope you guys have a great homeschooling experience! I’m entering into my third year of homeschooling, but the second year of homeschooling both of my kids. We love it and I’m looking forward to incorporating more unschooling into our routine this year.
Have fun with it. There will be times when everyone will over it and you’ll question if you were out of your mind, but ultimately I think it’ll be worth it. At least it is for us. Best of luck!!