A New Adventure....#Homeschooling!

     Next school year, I will have a 6th & 8th grader, a preschooler, and a one year old!  Pretty big stretch in ages.  But I'm doing something a little different for the next school year, regarding Lily.  I will be homeschooling her.  I know that she's only three but she's ready for school and I'm not ready to send her to preschool!

     Yes, I worry about her diet at school.  Yes, preschool costs a lot of money.  Yes, our public school will no longer have a preschool program.  Plus the other private preschools in the area are already full.  But the main reason is that she yearns for something more than just the social setting of a traditional preschool.

      Lily already knows all of her shapes and colors, knows how to write her name and recognizes a lot of letters by the correct name. While looking for a traditional preschool, I discovered that they don't really emphasize much on the learning, more on the social play/learning.  Don't get me wrong, traditional preschools are great (Andrew attended one).  Just not for Lily!

     We have half-hazardly been doing Mommy School.  But in August, we'll be ramping it up a bit.  I've already researched several other home school blogs that post their lesson plans and I'll be using those as a jumping off point.  As a former teacher, I've got an idea of what I want to accomplish.

     To help with the social aspect of a traditional preschool, I've got quite a few things ready.  We go to Music Monday at a neighboring library and story time at our local library.  Both are filled with other preschool aged kids.  The libraries offer us a chance to listen to another teacher, follow directions, sit still, and interact with kids her age.  Twice a month, we attend MOPS and Lily gets to play with kids her age and make crafts while listening to "teachers/volunteers."  I also attend a Bible study group that has a program for our children.  So with all of that, Lily should be doing just fine in a social setting, I hope!  Plus this year, she gets to start  our church's Preschool Sunday School.

     My first step in homeschooling was to come up with  a schedule.  By having it on paper, it will keep us on track and help me to plan our days better.  I've opened up a shop on Teacher's Notebook, to list all of the home school creations.  Don't worry, they're FREE!  If you're interested in downloading our 2013 schedule, to get an idea for your own school day, help yourself.  Just remember that this is a learning experience and our daily routine may (probably will) change many times throughout the year!

Click here to download for FREE!

     With my homeschooling adventure, I'm hoping to share what I learn from my inevitable mistakes and rejoice with my readers when we do something great.  I'm not planning on reinventing the wheel when it comes to lesson plans.  So, I'll try to list my lesson plans and where I gathered all of the materials from.

     Here is a copy of my generic lesson planning sheet.  Just like when I was teaching in a traditional school setting, I'll be making weekly lesson plans.  These will make sure I'm covering all that I want to, keep me on schedule, and hold me accountable for Lily's learning.

Click here to download for FREE!

 Wish us luck!




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