Homeschool Curriculum

This should have been posted on 2-24-12. Because it marks a big change in our lives I am including it now. There was originally going to be more to this post but, clearly, things got away from me. :)

Our homeschool curriculum is here! I ordered it two (?) weeks ago. It has been sitting around for a few days. Occasionally I will pick up a book and read/flip through it. I have to say I have mixed feelings. I was really excited when I was ordering. I was anxiously waiting for the package to arrive (it came on Ash Wednesday, coincidence, I think not!).

Homeschool Lesson #1

The Blessed Trinity (3 person's in 1 God)

That was the title of our first lesson. It was really fun. We did it Friday because St. Patrick's day really popped up on me this year. The lesson was about the three person's of God. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To help illustrate this image we used three leaf clovers. This really was genius (and not my idea. St. Patrick was the first one to preach this topic using the clovers. That's why they are a symbol of the day!). The clovers have three separate leaves that make up one plant. It's great fun.
I also got some pictures of Kaine. One with him alone, one with his Dad, one with his Grandparents, and one with his Uncle. I labeled the one just with Kaine as "Kaine" and put it at the top. Then I  labeled the rest as "Son", "Grandson", and "Nephew". You then get some yarn. From the first, "Kaine", photo you put yarn going from that picture to the other three. It shows that "Kaine" is also three other people but, he is also still just ONE person. God must have sent me this brilliant idea, I am not that good! Plus, the pictures look really cute on the wall (where we put ours)!
We also had two vocabulary words: Trinity and Mystery. Trinity-The Blessed Trinity; the three person's in one God. Mystery- something we can not fully understand. These two words are perfect for this lesson. "Trinity" of course is the point of the lesson. "Mystery" helps the child know that this concept is a mystery and something we cannot fully understand (I know MANY people who struggle with the concept of 3 people in 1 God).
We also focused on the "Glory Be" prayer: "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen." This helps reiterate the lesson.
All-in-all, it was a great start to our Homeschooling journey. We are going to do a little bit more on this important subject. We are also focusing on letter sounds. So far, we have done a, b, c and d. Kaine really enjoys this activity. (He has expressed interest in wanting to read. This is one of the first steps!)

I've Been Busy

Life has revealed some crazy things to me! Lot's of things have been going on. I am not even sure where to begin. That is probably why I haven't written anything in a while.

Anyway, my baby wanting hasn't really gone away. We still want all the babies that we can and God will let us! However, I have a hormonal imbalance that has made me pre-menopausal (i.e. infertile!). I had a saliva profile done and got my results on Friday. Basically, I am estrogen dominate and need to do hormone replacement therapy to resupply my body with progesterone and balance everything else out. Also, the test down right confirmed that I have PCOS. (No surprise there! We have always suspected this; since I was 15!) So, we are working on figuring out the right protocol. 

What IS clear, is that A LOT of things are about to change-Inside and Out! New diet, new exercise plan (or, I should say AN exercise plan, lol), new hormone therapy, new daily schedule and a brand new menstrual cycle (hopefully one that makes sense and let's me get prego!). LOTS going on!

Also, Kaine and I are about to go down a new path. Homeschool curriculum is in the mail and on it's way to our house! I have chosen Catholic Heritage Curriculum as our preschool program. We have chosen Kolbe Academy for the rest of his education (this I have already written on). Kolbe doesn't have a preschool program so, for a few months now, I have been in search of a good, comprehensive, religious and motivating curriculum to start our journey. I am excited about it and can't wait for our package to get here! We are going to be doing religion, music, phonics, shapes, numbers, letters, colors, sounds, and learning about the Liturgical year (Church calendar). It will be great!

We are also looking into getting Kaine into some extra curricular activities like gymnastics. He needs some kid time and some sort of energy release. I haven't found a good place yet. Once my Nanny duties are done, we will be looking more and more into it. (Alas, all things will be dependent of my freeing up my time and focusing on getting healthy.)

Because I should post something...

Depressing! I can't believe I let this thing go as long as I have without, at least, SOME word written on it! Anyway....TONS of things have changed. Some good, some bad, as it always seems to go.

The holidays were nice, a bit hectic but, filled with family. Kaine and the rest of the bunch had a great Christmas.
I started a new job (sort of) and have consequently ended said job within a month due to many factors (mainly, it just was not a comfortable situation and wasn't working with my family dynamics).
Kaine is no longer in pre-school. We want to home-school eventually anyway and I figured "why not start now?". Also, couldn't do job AND school (not that it was REALLY an issue or hard decision anyway).
I guess this is what I will talk about. Kaine misses school. He has been frequently (more now than ever) asking to go back. It breaks my heart that I have taken him out of something that he was enjoying. I truly do feel, however, that we are making a better "future" choice for him. Having said that, I don't feel like putting him in a school environment is what any of us truly want. I know what he is missing are the friends. So, we have started to look into new areas that get him out of the house and with his peers (one of the downfalls of home education, in my opinion, is ignoring the social needs of the children undergoing said home education). We want him to start gymnastics, he seems really excited about the prospect too. I would like to get him into some sort of sport but, my physiologist husband (lol) thinks that putting him into something like that too early will hinder him later in life (more along the lines of basically setting him up to be a baseball player at an early age and with the "learning" of that type of movement the body grows toward that instead of reaching its full, mobile potential. Did that make sense?). I don't really know how to explain that sort of thing. Also, my husband is super smart and knows what he is talking about so, really, I just let him handle it :).
So, Kaine is doing well in other aspects of life. But I do see room for improvement. I also see that he wasn't getting much out of going to school anyway (he really has regressed in his learning abilities). This is in part due to the fact that everyone in his class, at the pre-school, had some sort of learning disability, was behind, had speech issues or was just plain younger than he was (this makes the class sound bad but, mostly the language skills weren't as high as his and he wasn't being challenged enough). I think once we figure out this new routine and start adding "class time" to our schedule, things will work themselves out.

Home School

     Hello. I know my blog jumps around a lot. However, that is how life is so, I just tell you like it is, I guess. Anyway. Kaine is starting another year of preschool and First United Methodist, downtown. I really love their program and wish that they had more than a 2, 3 and 4 year old class. But, I know that some people are just called to do that age group.
      Anyway, I have been thinking a lot lately about the future. In terms of, "what are we going to do for Kindergarten?", "What about middle and high school?". I would really like to send him to St. Patrick's Interparish School (that has a ranking in the top 10% in the nation!) but, we can't afford $800 a month. We aren't Catholic, so we can't get the Catholic discount. We also can't get the scholarship because you have to go through your church. And, as much as I hate to say this, we haven't decided on a church home yet. So, what to do?
     I have played, off-and-on, with the idea of home school. First I hated the idea (almost as much as I hate the idea of public education). Public school is completely NOT an option. Private school is a wonderful option, until I couldn't figure out a feasible way to pay for it. So, what is left? Let my child go to public school and hope for the best? Or, figure out an at-home program that will work for us?
     When I asked Kaine what he would like to do (and I weighted the question in favor of school) he said, "I want to go to school with you!" So, I guess we have an answer to that question. I went on a search for Christian based home school (because, in my opinion, not teaching your child in the Faith  is unacceptable, being a believer and all). 
     The only problem with finding a good program? There are literally millions of programs out there. I was instantly overwhelmed with the choices. I wanted something that was challenging, college prep, Christian based (as number one), and at a good pace (as in, can keep up with everyone else and stay on the same level or one step ahead). I didn't realize there were so many types of home schools either. Did I want to "unschool" (which seems like a very unrealistic option-with  no structure), have a rigorous hyper scheduled program (which is the opposite of the previous option and may be no good), did I want to make my own program or buy someone else's and everything to consider that runs in-between these options. 
     Okay, so I made a mental list of the options that appealed to me. I wanted structure, planned out lessons that were competitive and above par, college prep would be nice, a religious course that would actually teach you the principles of the Faith, a proven curriculum, a challenging literature program, the option of flexibility, subjects that were on par or superior to what is being taught in "traditional" schools, option of dual enrollment (when he is older), option of college credit and standardized tests (this is a hot button topic for most home-schoolers, I am finding out but, I do believe in testing- just not teaching a test). At first, I thought I was going to have to compromise or combine different elements of many programs together (which, just sounds like a nightmare!). But, God is good and faithful and led us to a wonderful program.
     After doing a ton of research (that still needs to be done regarding school laws and such) we have decided on Koble Academy. You can go to the link and see what I mean about their standards, if you would like. It is Catholic based but, I really like how they base the year on the liturgical calendar and teach kids about the structure of the Church (being Episcopalian, it is very similar- and apparently Episcopalians aren't that big into doing home school? Don't know what that is about??) Their standards are above what I thought I would be able to find. So much so, that if we continue with the whole program Kaine will be reading well into college level by the end of high school. It was also just updated (last year) and the people they have on staff each have multiple degrees in education based fields. I am very impressed, to say the least. I also loved that there are sample lesson plans on their site, so I can see what we are really getting into. The total cost for Kindergarten is a plus too: $555.50, including registration fees, for the whole year! It does get increasingly more expensive but, it is no where near what you would be paying for private school anywhere else. It is a good option for us.