Ch-ch-changes

Ruthie spent her kindergarten year this year at our nearby Catholic school, which is run by Dominican Sisters.  We have loved having her there. She has been receiving an excellent education, and I have loved her exposure to religious vocations. She tells me she wants to be a nun when she grows up! Well, she also wants to be a mom, a clown, and a pianist, so I’m not holding my breath.

Despite our satisfaction with Ruth’s school this past year, after much deliberation, Scott and I have decided that it would be best for our family if we homeschooled Ruth and Rose this upcoming year. It was a difficult decision to make, and we hemmed and hawed about it for months. But we feel confident in this decision, despite the fact that when I informed Ruthie that we would be homeschooling, she asked, “But who will be my tutor?” Ummmmm me. *Sheepishly raises hand slowly.*

So, I decided to go whole hog on this Catholic blogging mom thing. Inordinate amount of children? Check. Gigantic van? Check. Homeschooling? Check. I should just go ahead and buy some prairie skirts and do this thing properly. High School Sylvia would be so horrified at how incredibly uncool I turned out to be. But High School Sylvia was kind of an idiot, so who cares what she thinks?

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t apprehensive about it. But, I am fortunate in that I have an incredible support system. I have many good friends who are already homeschooling (as well as Scott’s aunt!), and my lovely sister-in-law just so happens to be an incredible elementary school teacher. So, with a healthy heaping of God’s grace, we’ll get through this.

Scott and I have always said that we are going to regularly reassess what would be best for our family, education-wise. We are not closing the door for good on our children being sent to school again some day. Blythe said it way more skillfully and eloquently than I ever could in this post , and I totally agree with her sentiment. I don’t have to permanently cubby-hole myself as a “homeschooling mom” or a “Catholic private schooling mom.” We’re more of a “whatever works best for us right now” family. And we are fully aware that that can be subject to change. We shall see!

Since I have already dedicated my summer to: have a baby and recover from that and care for a newborn, I am trying to lay the groundwork for this upcoming school year now. I have been poring over different curricula for first graders and kindergarteners, trying to figure out which one we should use. I’m thinking that since this will be our first year homeschooling, a more structured one would be a better fit. What do all of you wise homeschooling mamas suggest? I’m also leaning toward a Catholic curriculum, but I’m not married to that idea if I like a non-Catholic one better and I’ll simply add in religious education myself. If it is any help, the informative online quiz that my friend Jiza sent me determined that my homeschooling style would probably best be described as Montessori or Classical. Shocker. Also, any other general wisdom about homeschooling you would like to impart would be invaluable. As we all know, I would be completely useless without begging you all for advice all the time. Your patience with me is, as always, appreciated.

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27 thoughts on “Ch-ch-changes

  1. S. Chapman

    As a homeschooling mom for nine years, albeit only one child, I would go for less structure for the early years. Our first few years were highly structured but also more stressful and less enjoyable. We followed a more classical style of education. If I had to do it over, I would definitely go with less structure and more play. I would have spent more time out doors, as well at the library and the park. We have moved over the last years to a Charlotte Mason style of learning, although curriculum-wise we are eclectic. Best wishes for your upcoming school year. It hasn’t been easy but I don’t regret homeschooling my daughter. 😀

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  2. Eva

    Congratulations to all your decisions, which are certainly the best for your family. Now and there. And I like unschooling the most.. Children really can teach themselves. Good luck!

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  3. newmariettaland

    How exciting! I’m a huge fan of homeschooling. We started when our oldest (he’s almost 21) was in K, and we are still at it. The thing I used to hear (back in the good old days of homeschooling groups that met in person) is that if your kids have been in school at all, they need a period of “de-schooling” when you get started. The rule of thumb was a month for every year they were in school. Unless you’re planning to do uniforms and a bell and a super strict schedule, homeschool life is different than school life and takes some getting used to for everyone. So you spend some time doing no school (summer and new babies are perfect) while your kids get used to doing what they want when they want. Things like not having to ask to go to the bathroom or have a snack.

    I’m also a big proponent of “unschooling” or child-led learning. Not to say that we don’t use any resources or do anything, but that the kids get to decide what they are interested in and for how long. They really do get around to all the things you think no one would ever do by choice. Shakespeare and high level math and Latin and diagramming sentences and alllllll the nerdy things. And it sticks because they were ready and interested.

    Most importantly, just like in every other aspect of life, don’t play the comparison game. Besides the fact that everyone is good at some things and not great at others (even actual geniuses are lacking somewhere!), some moms are just so much better at bragging than others. That was the case 15 years ago and it’s even more so in the social media era.

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  4. Amber

    I am not a homeschooling mama but I taught at an awesome charter school for 7 years and now a private Christian school. I am not a fan of curriculums. I think it takes away the excitement of teaching. A little bit is good but I love teaching in thematic units. It allows little ones to become so knowledgeable in whatever it is that they are diving into. Look into your state standards and start there. However, as far as curriculum Words Their Way was a popular phonics curriculum that I used and I loved the Comprehension Toolkit by Stephanie Harvey. . It teaches kids how to appreciate nonfiction and fiction and how reading is thinking not just reading words. It even teaches them how to take notes at the primary grade levels. With math I’ve heard people liked Everyday Math and Saxon Math as well as Sadlier Any-who. I’ve taught first grade for over 5 years now so if you have any questions don’t hesitate.

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    1. sylvia.hobgood@gmail.com Post author

      Thank you so much! It is so helpful to hear from teachers. I’ll look into those! Yeah, I mainly plan on using a curriculum as a crutch until I feel more confident in my teaching abilities 😬.

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  5. arenda

    Sooooo very exciting! I’ve been homeschooling my eldest this past year (he’s in first grade), and there are so many opportunities for wonder, truth and beauty! I’d been thinking about classical homeschooling till I came across Ambleside Online (www.amblesideonline.org). It includes folksongs, hymns, picture study, listening to classical music, poetry, nature study . . . and books! So many rich, beautiful books! One of my favourite blog to peruse for both sheer admiration and practical advice on how to implement Ambleside Online is Celeste Cruz’s blog, Joyous Lessons (www.joyouslessons.blogspot.com). AO is Protestant, but Celeste is a Catholic and has lots of suggestions for tweaking the curriculum to fit a Cathoic family.

    Wishing you all the best as you research and dream about the future!

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      1. Nicole

        I also adore Celeste’s blog and Instagram. I’m planning to use Ambleside when my eldest is 1st grade age (AO lets K year be more of a laid back, learning through real life kinda thing). We also get a lovely dose of both Montessori and Catechesis by sending the 4 YOs and up to Good Shepherd Catechesis (Atrium). It’s just once a week so I don’t feel like I have to be constantly schlepping anyone to school…and it’s such a beautiful environment!! Good luck!

  6. Cheryl

    Congratulations! Homeschooling is pretty awesome. K and first grade are great opportunities to have fun and explore different options without being tired to a curriculum. As much as my sanity needs structure, a set curriculum wasn’t a good fit for us right now bc we have a lot of Dr appointments, two boys ages 4 and almost 2 who are crazy lol, and a baby due in June. Also it’s been a horrible winter for us healthwise. I just pulled together my own curriculum from many sources. Right now I would estimate my almost 6yo to be halfway through first grade. It’s also worth noting that we hs year round. This means I have to do less each day and there’s no summer regression. Email me if you want specifics! Good luck!

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  7. Kristen

    I’ll be praying for you friend! Homeschooling is always on the back of our minds but we live 2.5 miles (5-7 min) to our free, Dominican run Catholic school. If Madilyn’s class didn’t have a waitlist, I think we would have homeschooled this year. Charlotte Mason (there is a free Catholic curriculum I still reference for books, but I’d course I can’t think of the name now) was my favorite when I was researching simply because our family loves books. However, M loves workbooks so she would be thrilled with whatever. Again, I’ll be keeping you in my prayers!

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    1. Karen

      The Catholic Charlotte Mason ‘curriculum’ is called Mater Amabilis, it’s a fabulous Facebook group too!

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  8. Susan

    I am totally blown away by your dedication to your family… Your eldest child is what, about 5/6? You’re expecting no 6, last year was such a mammoth year for Regina… and you are deciding to homeschool, seriously you are a wonder and a daily inspiration! Super Mum 🤗

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    1. sylvia.hobgood@gmail.com Post author

      Ruth is six! You are very kind to say so. Any successes I can attribute to the aid of the wonderful and wise people around me and the grace of God, but all the failures are all me 😂😂

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      1. beverley baggett

        Being that my children are grown, I can tell you that the children do not see our things we do wrong. They do not look at it that way. We see them but no parent is perfect!! and what is normal and what is perfect anyway!! What I am trying to say do not look at things you think are not what you do as right or wrong just look at them as being a great mom cause the love you show your kids is what counts and you show it in all you do. that is a great mom!!! and you are one of those!!

  9. Courtney

    I am excited to read about your homeschooling adventures! We will also be homeschooling though my oldest is only 4 now. We plan to use The Good and the Beautiful curriculum. It is very well priced and I have heard great things about it. It is a Christian curriculum but doesn’t promote any specific denomination.

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  10. Alana

    We’ve had a bit of a rough year school-wise and so homeschooling has crossed my mind more than once. We are fortunate that the public system (yes public system) pays for the Catholic schools here and ours is Francophone Catholic – my husband speaks French to them. The school overall is great so I’m hoping next year will be different.
    My random story that you never asked for aside, may I ask why you decided to homeschool?
    Looking forward to reading more about your endeavours ❤️

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    1. sylvia.hobgood@gmail.com Post author

      It was a combination of cost, commute, convenience, and that I had been toying with the idea for a long time anyway and wanted to give it a try.

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    1. sylvia.hobgood@gmail.com Post author

      I keep thinking, well my cousins turned out wonderfully, so I don’t know what I’m so worried about 😉

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  11. Andi

    I don’t homeschool except during summer but I did research it for years and still keep up with things. Seton is still my favorite and Saxon for Math. I love that the writing workbooks have Saint pictures with each letter, the reading comprehension for older grades include saint stories, and the math always includes holy objects. I toy with the idea of homeschooling one of our kids and just having the baby home, but I haven’t made the leap and all four older kids are signed up for school next year.

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    1. Erin

      Seton has a BIG jump between kindy and first – they pretty much have to be reading to go into Seton’s first for English. Try Seton if you want an interesting little primary “history” that does biographies of the saints.

      I like Catholic Heritage for language arts better, but Sunrise (from Christian Light) for math. I’ve also looked at and liked Living Math from Master Books as a Charlotte Mason option, but we were already into a program by that point.

      We’re like you as far as schooling style, so I hope these recommendations help. I spent WAY too much time evaluating curricula when we started 🙂

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      1. sylvia.hobgood@gmail.com Post author

        Thank you! Ruth is reading great (she’ll be in first), but Rose isn’t reading yet. I’m hoping Rose will go easy on me since Ruth’s school taught her to read so well. 😬 I know I’ve spent way too much time researching Curricula already, but I just can’t decide! 😂

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