Scattered

Ugh.


I'm overwhelmed.


I still love homeschooling, but the choices are madness. When you send your child to a public school you take what they give you. It's a one-size-fits-all arrangement. Oh sure your child can choose between choir, band and orchestra, but the means and manner of each decision, as parents, we should not have to concern ourselves.


Bless our hearts.


Though, if I'm being honest, having some of those choices ready-made is a delicious cop out. Like picking up McDonald's for dinner when are soooo tired from everything going on in your world. Still, just like fast food, a steady diet of not-very-nutritious-educational-consumption will take its toll on a kiddo.


The other side of that coin is that I have to decide on my child's curriculum. So that means there are decisions to be made. Which means there is research to be done. For a perfectionist like me the process of narrowing down and then picking something has been a little slice of hell.


I'm on all the appropriate homeschooling groups and boards. These connections are vital in order to disprove the whole "weird, unsocialized homeschooler" stereotype. We are weird. I'll give you that, but we come by it honestly. Our town's motto is "Keep Austin Weird" and by comparison we are downright Beaver Cleaver-eque.


But I digress...


I've started out with an online curriculum that says it's from grades PK to 8th. Well, that's partially right. The science stops at 6th grade. So I've felt the need to fill in their science lessons in the form of unit studies. So far I'm loving Kahn Academy, BrainPop, YouTube and Netflix documentaries. The Social Studies lessons are pretty general too so I've expanded a bit on those lesson plans as well. The material isn't different from 5th grade to 7th grade, but the level in which the information is given is different. I see no reason to plan for only one kiddo so we're not using the subscription curriculum as much as I thought we would for some of the subjects.  For this particular curriculum I pay very little, though now that I think about for the amount I pay annualized that I could afford a traditional textbook/workbook/teacher's aid system. Okay for 1 or maybe 2 subjects. Decisions.


That's another thing, it's not cheap homeschooling. It doesn't have to be that way, but there are some activities I'd rather pay to have someone to teach them. For example chemistry. I would likely figure it all out, but why when there are wonderful people who love what they do and want to share their knowledge with my kid for the low, low price of ...wait, what? How much?? But if doling out the cash makes it easier on me then youbetcha I'm happy to pay. On the other hand public school isn't exactly a bargain with all the supplemental material purchases, fund raising and in-kind contributions. I'm probably spending about the same the funds have just been reallocated. Putting it into accounting terms makes me feel much better. Thank you.


Thankfully my village of homeschool veterans is growing. I'm learning about so many amazing opportunities that we never would have had in the public school system. Classes, workshops, field trips and co-ops are a normal part of the homeschooing community. It's been especially gratifying to see so many businesses in Austin cater to our eclectic little community.


Thanks for the virtual ear. I'm feeling much less scattered.