We've homeschooled the kids almost exclusively since they've been born, really. Learning doesn't start at some specific age as far as I can tell. Out of my five kids, not one of them seems to learn the same things at the same rate. They're so incredibly different, I'll admit its been a challenge to be their teacher.
 |
| Back to School! Wonderful weather, so we can do work on the deck! |
Sprite, the oldest, graduated a couple of years ago, having homeschooled the whole way through.
Kainan, my one child who thrives on schedules and structure (both of which are my biggest weaknesses), decided that he wanted to try public school last fall. He's thriving in the public school system and loves it.
 |
| Kainan (middle) and his friends hanging out after school as usual. |
Jaedin, Paris and Abyni are all still at home. This year, however, we're using a virtual online charter school. We tried to sign up for one last year and had so much trouble trying to even register that I finally gave up.
This year my friend Momma Jorje highly recommended Epic Charter School. I decided to give it a try...
And so far, I love it. I love the local teacher that is assigned to the girls and Jaedin's teacher is awesome as well.
The way it works is that you sign up and get a learning fund once your transfer is approved. The learning fund allows you to then buy curriculum for your child.
There are several curriculum options to choose from. The girls (5th & 9th grades) chose "Compass" and Jaedin (a Senior at 16) chose "Advanced Academics". Then you're assigned a local teacher who can meet with you and your student to do things like benchmark testing, reviewing assignments in person (like physical artwork type assignments or experiments, etc). They're "on call" and our teachers have been AMAZING with responding to questions from the kids. I really appreciate these teacher's patience especially as we work through the kinks of learning this new process!
I love the fact that I don't have to do lesson planning. I don't have to do the grading, and we still have all of the benefits of homeschooling. Jaedin, a super self motivated student, can work at his high speed rates and power through a year's worth of school in one semester. The girls can work at their own pace, as long as they keep up... and even though we got a late start, they're catching up quickly.
The learning fund even allows for the rental of one of their laptops, which is a godsend for us! The laptops are far more powerful than any of our home computers, so Paris can even use her for her elective...
video editing & filming (Yep, they can even use a hobby that they want to learn more about as an elective in high school!)
**I will add that the curriculum that the girls chose (Compass) has been FULL of glitches, especially for Paris. There are tons of things that aren't working, causing severe stalls in learning and a small pet peeve of mine, spelling errors in the English lessons. I definitely will try Epic again, because their support has been awesome, but I will not choose Compass as a curriculum again.
Benefits of homeschooling? Its different for everyone. For us...
- Getting to run in the yard with the dogs for P.E.
- More family time
 |
| I love how well my kids get along and how close they are! |
- (My personal favorite) More time spent learning what they love to learn (Paris' special effects makeup, video filming & editing; Sewing & fashion design, yep! Jaedin's guitar and piano lessons? His Airsoft gun repair and business? Yep!
-
- Being able to work around our own schedules. We are decidedly not morning people, but we can start school at 10:00 and still we're usually done by 3:00 every day, which is right around the time Kainan gets home from the Senior High! Perfect timing!
- Being able to work around different learning styles.
- Not having to worry about unwanted daily influences that we don't want our kids exposed to on a constant basis. Plus, as a benefit to others, my crazy kids aren't out there regularly influencing other people's children either... unless they're watching them on youtube. Then, no guarantees.
 |
| She was able to learn and film several fun and interesting Halloween looks for her elective. |
 |
| She uses Windows Movie Maker for editing video this year. Next Semester, we may use the learning fund to invest in some photoshop software so that she can do more. |
