It starts...

Here is a quick overview of what we have been doing in the past.  In 2008, after much deliberation and worry, we decided to pull all four kids out the school.  They were attending a Catholic School, even though we are not catholic.  We wanted to send them to a Christian school, but since those around here are private, way too expensive.  So we left the public system right before Christmas.  It was scary and weird for us.  After about three months of just trying a few basic things, we were settling down nicely and were glad to be done with public school.  Then I went to our provincial home school convention.  I was very excited and happy to finally learn more about what I was doing, and how this home school thing really worked.  I was completely in love with the idea of home school and very excited to try all these great new things I was learning at home with the kids.  They were just happy not to have to go to school, but it was still a struggle.  When I first began thinking of homeschooling, I had a vision in my mind and heart of what that would be for our family.  I pictured us sitting around reading, then the kids would get excited about something that we read and would spend the rest of the day working on a project,of their own making, and having fun.  I pictured them exploring things, trying out new ideas, and learning a ton.  I didn't know it at the time, but that was unschooling!  So, hear I was at the convention, learning about all the great families, all the great stuff they were doing, how 'simple' homeschooling could be, how easy it was, etc.  All I needed to find was the right curriculum for each child and I would be set. Right? Wrong. Three years and thousands of dollars later, we were still struggling.  The older three were ok with it.  Nothing too exciting, just getting through each days lessons but my youngest was really hating it.  I mean HATING!!!!  Everyday he cried, every day he struggled to get the stuff done, to learn to read, to do a whole sheet of math questions.  He was starting to feel stupid and really starting to hate learning in general.  Although he was good at math, liked to listen to bible stories and any read alouds, loved science projects but hated answering questions and so much more.  I know now that the older three were also feeling this way, but because they had been to public school for a few years already, they were already trained to just do what they were told to get it done. If only I could find the right curriculum, if only I could find the magic that was missing in our home school, all would be wonderful once again.  I had heard about un-schooling and had tried it very breifly, but thought that it was crazy!!!  Why would I let me kids do whatever they wanted every day, they needed to LEARN things...lol.  That's what crazy people do.  We went back to worksheets and curriculum.  I realized that there would be no magic curriculum for us, and so was resigned to just work with what we had and be content, even though we hated it.  That was all that was out there and we just had to live with it.  All those other families who were loving their lives and home school were just different than us, and somehow we were the strange ones.   I was feeling kind of down, so I found a book in my local library:  Learning at Home   A mother's guide to homeschooling by Marty Layne.  Check it out here.  She homeschooled her kids in the early 90's when there really wasn't much for curriculum.  This book reminded me of my initial dream of what homeschooling could be like.   Could I really do it that way?  Could it really be that simple?  Were other people doing this and having success?  After some more research, the answer, of course, is yes!!  After a talk with my husband I discovered that this was his homeschool dream as well!  Who knew?  Since I was the one 'educating' the kids, he wanted me to be happy with what I was doing.  What a guy.  It was decided.  Simple as that.  I had a long talk with all the kids about this new lifestyle and they were excited.  Who wouldn't be, I knew I was.  So that is the condensed version of where we are now.  Who knows where it will take us?  I know we will enjoy the ride!!  Even the bumpy parts!