Holy Spirit, Conclusion

So, we decided to homeschool. Our oldest was to begin kindergarten, giving us lots of options. I figured I could cobble together my own kindergarten curriculum based on the age-old template: reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion. I wondered about science, though; Dale has a history/poli-sci background and my major was French with a teaching minor in Humanities. I had enough credits to legally teach Spanish, but it wasn't quite a minor. (We've since overcompensated for that, book-wise. I'll explain.) I was leaning toward buying the lesson plans from Mother of Divine Grace for the classical curriculum and filling in the blanks as I saw fit.
He didn't see the point of reinventing the wheel, though--he wanted her registered in an accredited school for the sake of breaking the news. That wasn't asking much.
So what worked for both of us? Kolbe Academy, the one I had fallen in love with at first perusal. A bit more looking, evaluating, and praying and we sent in the registration check.
We'd already broken the news to my family, greeted with either indifference or support. My mother admits that she always imagined me surrounded by little kids teaching them to read; it's her grandchildren instead of some strangers'.

We had started giving my mother-in-law hints that we were thinking about it, but we were still very apprehensive about coming clean. I felt it was his family, his responsibility; I would do it, but only with him physically present.

My mother-in-law is a smart woman. She guessed. It was easy after he emailed her "we have something to discuss about Maddie's schooling when you come down for the girls' birthday party." That afternoon, we got this (it doesn't get much better):
DALE, WE WOULD ALWAYS TRUST WHATEVER YOU AND HEATHER DECIDE. HAVE YOU DECIDED TO HOME SCHOOL MADDIE. I KNOW IT WOULD BE HARD FOR ME TO PUT KIDS INTO PUBLIC SCHOOL IN YOUR AREA. I WOULD NOT WANT THOSE PRECIOUS BABIES EXPOSED TO SOME OF THE STUFF I HAVE SEEN IN SMALL TOWN SCHOOLS. DONT BE AFRAID TO SHARE ANYTHING WITH US, WE MAY BE OPINIONATED BUT WE KNOW YOU PUT THE KIDS FIRST. LOVE MOM.
I was so relieved I couldn't speak. I knew there wouldn't be a screaming match type Jerry Springer scene, but I didn't want underlying tension and regular queries of the "Are you over it yet?" genre either. Today we sent our first "letter" to Neema and I think she'll be impressed.

I suppose I'd been destined to homeschool; now that we're actually doing it, it seems so natural. Others (Zach and Shelly) have said, "I always knew you would." Even my sister, who asked two short years ago if I would even consider it and got a staunch "Nooo," is giving me her "I told you so" smirk.

Once upon a time, I wondered about those families who didn't have TV. How would those kids make friends if they didn't have the same cultural reference points, like Elmo or Dora? Wouldn't they be weird? I've come to the conclusion that our culture doesn't offer many common reference points anymore. Sure, you have most kindergarteners knowing Big Bird is an example of yellow, but how many will come up with pimp using the short I sound? I know a kid in 8th grade (now in 9th) whose mother had to prescreen The Passion of the Christ for the violence, but she didn't have the same concern about Saw. These are not the common values I want my children to assimilate.

So now that we've been at it for a few weeks For Real, how is it going? Very well, thank you. Madeleine is starting to understand subtraction (addition was a snap), her sight words are easy and her phonics are starting to make sense to her. We're reviewing the short vowel sounds this week; I want those to be solid before we tackle the long ones. Science experiments are all of their favorite--blowing up a balloon with vinegar and baking soda was a hit, as was floating an egg in sugar and salt water.

I started this series to help others find their way. My mother says she's glad her kids are all grown; the options now are just dizzying, and all of her kids have made different choices. She thinks, though, that all of us have made the best choice for our respective families.
I agree.