HOMESCHOOLING....

have i said to anyone that i was going to HOMESCHOOL my boys?! well, i AM and i am SOOOO EXCITED BECAUSE OF IT!!! :) there is soooooo many new opportunities out there for homeschoolers it is UNBELIEVABLE!!! there are soooooo many families that are doing it now and sooooo many resources it is SOOOOO AMAZING!!! :) we officially started TODAY and we are really just doing our basic PRESCHOOL activities....we are really going over what we already know and also going over some phonics and such! we got a GREAT little activity book at SAMS club that we are just working on and then we also started the GET SET FOR SCHOOL by jan olsen book and that is COOL!!! we are learning how to do LINES and CIRCLES and such!! we are taking it REALLY SLOW right now and working our way up to a couple of hours a day! right now, we only worked on it for about 45 mins or so and he had a BLAST and he LOVED the idea of doing this at HOME!! :)

WELL, i had a discussion with a couple of my buddies about this subject and i was asked WHY i wanted to homeschool?! well, i have SEVERAL reason but here are just a few! i have been REALLY thinking about it lately because it is coming up sooooo soon! next year he would have started kindergarden!! wowowowowow!!

sooooo, one of the main reasons are that it I WILL BE TEACHING MY CHILD and i will know what is best for him! it will be a ONE ON ONE interaction which i KNOW he needs!!!!! especially since classrooms are usually 20+ kids in ONE CLASS!!! for my peace of mind, that is WAY TO MANY for 5 & 6 year old kiddos!! now, they brought up the point that i don't know how he will actually react to that many kids in one place but i would rather not chance him getting lost in the class!! OR stand out because he is soooooo overactive that he get slapped with a ADHD LABEL!! and i know it CAN happen!! but anyway, that is one BIG reason in my book! then there is what they are learning.......can you say prep for STANDARDIZED TEST?! the reason the whole year (not necessarily kinder but by 1st or 2nd grade) is spent working on this test so that they can pass it and get the FUNDING FOR THE SCHOOL!!!! yep, those test are nothing more than how the district gets their funding! if a child fails it, they don't get the money for that one!!! regardless, i am soooooooo against that standardized testing and feel it is sooooo wrong....
the pressure it puts on these LITTLE ONES is just soooooo wrong! a relative of mine said that she HATES theses tests and she is sooooooo nervous about them, she can't sleep or anything!!! now, did i mention she is only STARTING the FIFTH GRADE?!?!?! that is way toooo much pressure to put on these kids....think back to when YOU were in E-L-E-M-E-N-T-R-Y SCHOOL and try to remember how it was......can you picture it?!?!......i can and i sure don't remember having THAT pressure on me!!! and i remember there was RECESS (socialization) and that i didn't have to worry about any ol' test that scared me soooooooo much that i didn't even want to go to school during that time and i worried ALL YEAR LONG because i KNEW i had to pass it and the teachers had to push it on us!!! THANK GOD i didn't have any of that! now, mind you, this is for PUBLIC SCHOOL....private schools you don't have that ....

anyway, LOVE the thought that i will be giving my son the best education out there and that we will be doing it as a FAMILY.....i will know his LIMITS and i will know when to back off and start again another day.....he will know that his teacher LOVES HIM and worries and cares about HIM and what is going on. i can teach him values and how to be the BEST HE CAN BE!!

James is happy about this decision his only stipulation is that he WILL have social interaction and that will be no problem! we are going to enroll him in SPORTS and also there is his weekly PLAYGROUP and i will be looking into HOMESCHOOLING PLAYGROUPS too that offer FIELD TRIPS, CLASSES, ARTS/CRAFTS, etc and just social interaction with others that are homeschooling here in san antonio!! and there are HUNDREDS doing it!!!!! :) i found tons of support groups out there and playgroups! there is even a place that is a store FOR homeschoolers! there are FOOTBALL, SOCCER, BASEBALL, ETC teams that are for homeschoolers. they even have graduation classes and proms!! :) and because of the INTERNET, that much MORE is out there for the homeschooling family!!! i am excited!!
just check these sites out: san antonio homeschoolers , bookstore, support groups in sa

these are just A FEW out there.....soooo excited! he is doing SOOOOO WELL!!! :) there are tons more reasons to homeschool and i just BARELY touched on a few of them!! anyway,,,,