Part 7 – Timing Of Our Decision

You might want to start at the beginning. Here is… 

If we decide to homeschool, we will be pulling out at the end of this grading period. Meaning, this Friday could be tLG’s last day of public school. If all goes according to plan she will not return after the holiday break for the spring semester. Why now? Well, I’m glad you asked. Because I can. That’s why! Kidding. LOL! In all seriousness, I can, but it’s mostly because the timing is right.

For starters, it’s at the beginning of the year. Personally, I adore the start of a new year. It’s like “new mercies” times 100. New Year’s Day feels like a clean slate and a fresh start. It’s refreshing and invigorating to start over. I’m a resolution maker, but I bet you could have guessed that. Me and my type A personality and all. I have more motivation at this time of year than any other time. If I’m gonna do this, I’m will need some super-charged determination so it seems January is the only logical time to start.

With my event planning job, things start getting busy in mid August. September is nothing short of insane and I travel the first half of October. It would be impossible to take on a new project during that time. Have you ever moved or reorganized a room in your home? During the middle of moving it tends to look like a bomb went off. Basically, it gets worse before it gets better. I’m kind of counting on that happening once we dip our toe into homeschool. I can’t deal with that sort of drama in the middle of conference season. I would probably jump ship on day 2. We need to be well into our groove before August comes. I’m also considering some local co-ops for 2nd grade and I want her to be well adjusted to homeschooling before we delve into that. Co-ops are good for socialization but mainly it’s so I can have some uninterrupted work hours. It’s a genius idea, if I do say so myself!

There is also the issue of curriculum. I’m still in the overwhelmed research stage and couldn’t pull the trigger on selecting a program right now if my life depended on it. For one, I need to assess where she’s at so we know where to start. The next homeschool conference in Nashville is in March. I’ve already purchased our tickets to go. I can’t wait! My plan is to use that opportunity to get a better look at curriculum options and then decide.

I’ve heard that when you switch to homeschool from public school, it can take some time to de-program the student from institutionalized learning. You basically take it easy for a while and let them kind of find their way and see where they are at and what they are interested in. Just being honest, but I’m fully planning to gimp my way through the spring semester. The current plan of attack is to piece it together to finish 1st grade, revisit curriculum options after the conference in March, then get my game face on to start 2nd grade with more organization and an actual plan.

Now, few of you know this about me but I have a thing for numbers. In fact, my Dad’s side of the family is quite a bit superstitious about it. My favorite number is 14 and anything that revolves around 7 is good. We are headed into 2014 and my girl turns 7 in January. Can the sign be any clearer? 😉

In part 8, I’ll discuss how long we plan to homeschool and my thoughts on college.