This school year is half-way over! It’s been quite the “first year”. I think I’ve learned an invaluable lesson that I will need to take with me during all of our homeschool years to come.

Homeschooling requires flexibility. And, really, life requires flexibility. We can make plans but…..life will always happen and sometimes, we just have to go with it.

That is exactly how our first year of homeschooling has gone. I made plans for this year, life happened, and we’ve been rolling along ever since.

Despite the fact Little Bug’s school year was disrupted by the very sudden adoption of her baby brother, Little Bug has excelled in Kindergarten. She is learning to read. Her math skills are building on a wonderful foundation. Her handwriting is coming along and she is loving her time at the school she started attended January 6th. I worried that she would struggle in the class since our homeschool instruction was so sporadic the first few months of school, but she hasn’t missed a beat in the classroom and she is learning right along side all the children that have been there since the beginning of the school year.

I am happy with the school she is attending. It is giving Little Bug the outlet she needed while having a young infant in the house. I am not an on-the-go mom when I have a baby. It’s all just a season because, before we know it, Sarge won’t need as many naps and we can all go explore the world together. For now, this school is giving Little Bug the social interaction she craves. Since she began school, she has not been bouncing off the walls of our house (as much) and overall she just seems happier.

Now for my assessment of the school. It is an excellent school. I love that it is a school designed to partner with homeschool families. It’s the best of both worlds. Students can “go to school” three days of the week and parents can homeschool the other two days. It truly is a wonderful concept. I am thankful my only option wasn’t to send Little Bug to school five days a week! The only thing I don’t like about the school is the curriculum they use. It’s not that they have a “bad” curriculum. It is, in fact, a very “good” curriculum used by many schools all over the country.

What I don’t like about it is that it is a very “traditional” curriculum like you would see in public school. Lots of workbook pages filled with repetitive activities week after week after week. Fortunately, the Kinder teacher is awesome and she has LOTS of hands-on learning taking place in the classroom. The reading curriculum uses readers and I absolutely love that homeschooling allows me to teach my children using living literature.

Compared to the Horizons Math Little Bug was doing with me, the math she is doing at school is super easy. It just affirms my decision to go with Horizons! It is such a solid math curriculum for elementary math. I am extremely impressed with it.

Going to school has pushed Little Bug with her handwriting, which I think is going to end up being a very good thing! Her Kindergarten class is doing the 1st Grade level Handwriting Without Tears book! When I looked at it, I thought there was no way Little Bug was going to do this without shedding tears. But, lo and behold, she has tackled it like a champ. It doesn’t take her hours to do the assignments like I feared and she is writing pretty well considering I thought the Kindergarten book would be too challenging for her this year.

From here to the end of the school year, we will continue plugging along. We are still working on our All About Reading Level 1 and Horizons Math K because….it is FUN! We won’t be able to finish it all before the end of the school year, but that is just fine because we will probably continue working through the summer here and there. That’s the beauty of homeschooling. We can work at our own pace and not worry about any one else’s schedule!

We are just a month into Sweet Pea’s Ready-Made Preschool Level 1 and she is loving it. I am enjoying having three mornings to just work with Sweet Pea while Little Bug is at school. I had that one-on-one time with Little Bug while Sweet Pea was a baby, and I am thankful to have this time with Sweet Pea now.

Sweet Pea has taken over Little Bug’s Preschool Handwriting Without Tears book. She is all into that book and loves writing her letters. She keeps it in the bottom drawer of her workboxes and she goes and pulls it out first thing every morning.

The two days of the week that both girls are home are very energetic! I had always done Little Bug’s schooling during the afternoon while Sweet Pea naps but recently it works better with our overall family schedule to have a Morning School Time for both the girls. When I am working with Little Bug Sweet Pea is very good about finding toys and educational activities to do on her own while I am working with her sister. It is imperative for me to be prepared and ready for the day’s activities before we enter the homeschool room! I am still using a workbox system with both girls and that helps me to be organized and have everything ready to go.

I feel good about where our family is right now. I would prefer to be homeschooling full-time right now. It’s just not my season for that at this time. I am hopeful we – Little Bug included – will all feel peace about full-time homeschool next year. It’s a decision I don’t need to make yet. When the time comes, we will make the decision and whatever decision we make will be the best for that season. God will continue to show us the way as He has done this year.

- Elaine