It's official.
I am the mother of a kindergartner. I have a kid who is school-aged. What?! It's especially jarring because I don't feel a day over 22. Too bad my driver's license begs to differ!
Tiny Greek Goddess ISD is officially in session as of last Monday. Cora was so very excited for school that I really don't think I could have held her off any longer. So, we jumped in.
When John and I were trying to first figure out this whole home school business, I got together with some friends from church who were part of a program called Classical Conversations. I wasn't necessarily interested in the program at the time, but more so, just wanted to get some information about what homeschooling looks like. However, after hearing my friend's 6 year old daughter tell me the history of the world from Creation to present day, I was sold on the program and the philosophy behind it. It is a lot of memorization during the first few years, but it is carefully designed to give families the opportunity to learn and grow together. I honestly think that I may learn as much or more than Cora.
We started our first day with a special breakfast. I likened it to "Muffins with Mom."
I decided to fashion our school day in a similar fashion to the schedule I read about in the Foundations guide for this program. This means, that on an ideal day, we will have some devotional time, then periods of work followed by activity breaks. During each work period, Cora will first work on her skills independently before we will work together on any new skills or activities for the day. I love the idea that she should learn to not have to rely on me (or any other teacher) to begin learning. In each subject area, she is able to begin the learning process on her own. Fortunately for me, Cora has easily adapted to this format. Though she sometimes resists the independent work, she knows that she works for the allotted time, but then gets a break. On most days, we have finished our tasks by noon.
Today was our first day of Classical Conversations.
In this program, we meet once a week in a group setting with a tutor. On our CC day, we work on new memory work, present an informal presentation and also do a fine arts activity and science experiment. This is the basis for the memory work that Cora and I will practice for the next week.
Cora and Carys were both excited to wear new dresses - who doesn't feel special in a brand new 'first day of school' outfit - and to carry their backpacks. It was a bit of a frenetic day for Cora who is accustomed to a more leisurely pace, but it was fun for her to learn the material and to socialize with some new friends. I know her stamina will increase the more we participate in the program. But, the nice thing is that if it doesn't, we can come home at 1 and take a nice long nap - a luxury that wouldn't be afforded to her at our neighborhood school.
The bottom line is that as of two weeks in, I am feeling more and more confident in our decision to home school. I know not every week/day/hour of this adventure is going to be sunshine and butterflies, but it's nice to see Cora adjust well to this new educational process. To be continued...
1 comment:
I'm delighted that things have started off so well. Not surprised at all :) Can't wait to get an update when we see you tomorrow.
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