Field Trip!

Yesterday, our homeschool group had a fun and educational field trip to Jefferson College and Locust Ridge Plantation for Black History month. At Jefferson college, we learned a famous local story (though none of us were familiar with it) of Abdul Rahman Ibrahima (aka Prince AbdulRahman or Prince Ibrahima). He was a prince from West Africa who was sold as a slave to a plantation owner named Thomas Foster in Washington, MS (right outside of Natchez), and ended up being freed by the president and moved back to Liberia with his wife and only a few of his children. Terry Alford has written a book about it entitiled, "Prince among Slaves". Then we went to Locust Ridge on the Trace and saw the house with original furniture, etc. The kids learned how cotton was combed and spun into thread using a spinning wheel. We walked out to the slave cemetary, but there weren't any markers or anything out there, so we were kind of disappointed about that. But the house was really neat. We try to plan one of these a month. In march we are thinking about the Natchez Indian Village. But we may do an Easter egg hunt on the grounds of Jefferson College. They are so nice and "homeschool friendly". They also have some educational thing going on every month. Including mine, there are six kids between the ages of 4 and 8 and then there are one 3 yr. old, three 2 yr. olds, and one infant. I am so blessed and greatful to have these families to share our homeschooling experience with.

About us.....

I am very unorganized, and I other than 3 months of technical college I have no credentials to speak of . We are a one (not so big) income family. I graduated from a private school, and my husband can take credit for the vast majority of his education seeing as he graduated from one of the worst public schools in our area. He however did go to college...for 2 years. My point is that you don't have to be a rocket scientist, a millionaire, or a supermom to homeschool. You do, however have to be commited at all costs, patient, loving, supportive, confident, and excited about teaching and learning. I am like many homeschooling parents still in our "honeymoon"...which means I am still learning what and what not to do and say.....what works for us and what doesn't. One thing I do is research everything to death. I think this has saved us quite a bit of headache. My daughter is doing very well, despite my incapabilities and mistakes. It gets better all the time. Sure, we've had our moments....and I've made the "maybe I should just forget this and send you to school" empty threat when I was frustrated. She of course was horrified at the idea, and I apologized and have commited not to make that mistake again. And it is through hundreds of like mistakes that we both make that I hope we grow from as we go through this together. I was surprised that I have learned just as much as her. I wouldn't trade this experience or the special bond we share in this journey for anything in the world.

funny....myth vs reality

" I suppose it is because nearly all children go to school nowadays and have things arranged for them that they seem so forlornly unable to produce their own ideas. "
--Agatha Christie

What we are planning to use 2008-2009

I am already preparing to order our homeschool curriculum and electives for next year. I will probably be ordering in March. My daughter usually finishes up fairly quickly each day, so I've added some electives to further keep her interest. Here is what we plan to be using:

1. Sonlight Core 1 with Grade 2 regular readers (4 day) and required resources

2. Sonlight Science 1 (4 day) and supply kit

3. Horizons Math 1 kit with K-3 manipulatives

4. A Reason for Handwriting (plus teacher manual)

5. Sequential Spelling 1

6. Sonlight Language Arts 2 (goes with level 2 readers)

7. Christian Liberty Press Bible (Studying God's Word B), Leading Little Ones to God (Schoolland).

Electives: English From the Roots Up flashcards, Teach them Spanish 1 , I Can Draw Books, Lollipop Logic, Little Book of Manners, & a Grade 1 CD-ROM.


For my 2 year old, I am ordering First Thousand Words (Amery).

Homeschool Speech

"Unknown to her the rigid rule, The dull restraint, the chiding frown The weary torture of the school, The taming of wild nature down." John Greenleaf Whittier

Welcome!

Welcome to my new homeschooling blog "Learning Outside the Box"! I didn't have any intentions of homeschooling my children before I actually became a mother. When my oldest daughter was a baby, of course I loved reading books to her, and she was always eager to have me read to her. When she began reading at 3, it seemed a pretty normal progression for her. So I decided to do preschool at home a year early for her (her birthday ran too late in the year to have actually gone to preschool). This was for a couple of reasons initially....one was that our public school district has a reputation for not being "up to snuff". Another was that we just couldn't afford upwards of $4,000.00 a year to send her to a private Christian school. And finally, I just wanted to give her something fun and educational to do. It ended up being the best decision we ever made. Our family's whole philosophy on learning and child rearing have been changed forever. She is finishing up Kindergarten this year, and will begin 1st grade in August (she won't be 6 until September). She recently took the DORA (www.letsgolearn.com)which is an online reading diagnostic test. Our state does not require testing, but I wanted to make sure that she had learned what was expected and also to tell me what direction to go in next year. She tested high 6th grade on word recognition, the maximum (high 4th) on phonics, Low 1st on spelling, high 2nd on Oral Vocabulary, and low 4th on reading comprehension. She took this test while my husband and I were in the kitchen making soup....lol. It further gave us evidence that we were doing the right thing for her. It is challenging at times, no doubt. But I hope that this blog will help families thinking of homeschooling, and give encouragement to those who already do.