Homeschoolers to Afterschoolers

This has been a difficult year.  With both of us grown-ups working and going to school we've had to make some tough decisions and I don't just mean financially.  We pulled R out of preschool in the winter as we knew we'd need the nanny more to cover my ours teaching and working.  R didn't love his preschool, but I was sad to see him leave.  So for the entire Spring semester we just "maintained".  The kids played together and very little learning occurred.  When N got the full time instructor position, it was a huge relief to us.  Our savings were pretty much as depleted as our home rhythm.  Not to mention the exhaustion I've felt by being 34 and pregnant, taking care of the entire family, graduate school, working, etc.  Too much!

So when I brought up the idea of homeschooling the kids, N was not crazy about it.  We did a lot of talking and I even purchased some super cheap (used) homeschool curriculum.  But N couldn't be convinced.  So I reluctantly took my baby to Kindergarten Roundup in April.

Up to this point, I intended to homeschool in a Waldorf-inspired manner.  Saving intense academia for another year or two and just focusing on childhood and fostering creativity.  So starting in August we'll be Waldorf-inspired Afterschoolers instead of homeschoolers.

Then I started to have some anxiety.  With sending him to public school Kindy in the fall, it's become more clear to me that I need to "bring him up to date" so to speak with expected academics.  Here's where that used homeschool curriculum comes into play.

We are loosely following the Oak Meadow First Grade program.  And this week we started with "A" and will soon move on to "B".

As you can see in this last picture, R is distracted by something happening in the backyard.  That's because Daddy is doing a bit of his own learning.  He's attempting to filter rocks out of our soil with one of the trays from my worm bin (what? doesn't everyone vermicompost?).  This is only the beginning.  Huge muddy mess ensues...

And I'm okay with this sort of lesson too.  We still have another activity planned for when they get cleaned up and come inside.