Yes, we are! All I need to do now is to submit that commitment paper and wait for the workbooks and we're good to go!
The search is over!
Last year, I attended a homeschooling seminar with one of the leading homeschooling providers in our country. I was actually planning on having her enrolled right after it. I already have the checklist and all, and I thought we are right on track, my daughter is ready and I am ready. Let's do this! But I was turned down when they learned she was only 3 years old at that time. That wa such a bummer. I really wanted to have us officially enrolled.
So while we were waiting, literally just waiting for her to be of right age to be accepted for enrollment, my husband and I teamed up. He looked online for a curriculum I could follow while I list down all our options for our homeschooling provider. And he did find a curriculum! That's the one we are using as a guideline now on our unofficial, freestyle homeschooling program.
I actually thought of not enrolling her at all. Since we already found the curriculum we could use until the more advanced grade levels, why the need for a provider still? First reason is that everyone in the family both my husband's side and mine have no background in homeschooling at all. We don't know a single thing about this stuff. All we know is that homeschooling fits perfectly for my daughter's personality and learning style. Another reason we still need a provider is because we wanted to make sure her LRN will be secured right away. As I've said, we don't know much about homeschooling so processing that needs to be done by the experts.
Lastly, I may be way over my head if I think that we can take on homeschooling on our own right away. I knew that we would need guidance amd direction at least on the first few years. I am thinking of going freestyle someday but I have to know the ins and outs first. I need to test the waters, as they say, before diving to the deep end. But Iam pretty sure we would want to homeschool all the way. At least that's the plan.
And so, using the subject matter outline that my husband found, I devised a daily study time schedule for me andy daughter to follow. It's a pretty flexible schedule with lots of activities and playing and cuddling time but I slowly incorporated serious lessons time. It took a while but as of writing, said schedule is working pretty well for us.
While that's happening, I went on and searched for the homeschooling provider that's perfect for us. It's a quick and easy search on the internet to find the homeschool provider that's most suited for your family.
Compared to last year, the list of homeschooling providers increased this year. Owing to the current predicament of the world today, I would suppose the families that are looking to homeschool their kids increased. A lot of regular schools added homeschooling to their programs. More options, more fun!
Things to consider
There are a lot of factors I needed to consider before we selected the homeschool provider we chose.
One of the things we needed to make sure is if the school has proper accreditation. The provider we selected is formerly a face to face regular school which means they already are accredited. Furthermore, we have a relative that sent their kid to that regular school so we somehow have a solid proof that they are legit.
We also needed to check if the provider will assist us fully in our homeschooling journey. That meant that there is an adviser who I as the mom-teacher can consult with regarding my child's progress. I know my child, but the adviser knows the system. And together, I and the adviser will be able to work together to ensure that my kid and I will have the best learning experience, thus producing positive outcomes. There was a homeschooling provider that has a very limited number of hours of consultation with the adviser. That's not gonna work for a first timer like me. And so we chose the provider with unlimited log hours. Of course I will not abuse the unlimited hours, but it's just reassuring that there's someone out there that will surely help me should I need assistance.
Books and learning resources are also deal breakers. There are homeschooling providers that charges extra for books and online seminars. I understand the logic behind it but if there's an option where we can get it with lesser cost, then why not? Soon, once I learn the nitty gritty of homeschooling, I'll feel a lot more confident in looking for our own resources. By then, this will no longer be part of our considerations when enrolling.
Is it worth our money's cost? I would like to think so. As soon as I paid the down payment, the adviser assigned to us immediately emailed me a welcome letter along with files that are extremely helpful with my daughter's learning development. They sent me a checklist to see where my kid is at when it comes to her learning milestones - she aced it by the way. They also included the syllabus which gives me and my daughter a headstart. But right now, since we're on nother curriculum, I'd like to stay the course but slowly add the syllabus they gave into my lesson plan. Yes, I have a notebook that says Lesson Plan at the front.
We will rock this official homeschooling! I hope so. Now that the search is over, we are sitting tight and are continuing with our homeschooling journey.
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