I know I'm a few weeks late here, but Kaelin's last day of school was June 2. I can't believe I have a 4th grader. It wasn't all that long ago when she started kindergarten. Over these last few weeks I've really enjoyed having her home -- almost as I've enjoyed not having to take her to school in the morning or interrupt my afternoon to pick her up!
I'm definitely nervous though, since it means our homeschooling adventure is just around the corner. I have no doubts in my ability as a chemistry teacher on the college level, but am I going to be able to teach my own kid Greek history? What about Latin? There are books on her 4th grade reading list that I've never even opened. How am I going to teach her Shakespeare? What about when she starts giving me attitude?
Am I even going to have a free minute to myself?
Anyways, I was originally going to write my own curriculum, but after HOURS of research I realized that I have no clue what 4th graders should learn. Plus, I might have the tendency to pack a little too much into a school day. I found what I think will be an amazing Catholic homeschool program so we're going to try that, for at least her first year. If we like it, we'll stick with it, otherwise we'll try something new for 5th grade. I also found most of the books she'll need cheap so the whole thing will probably only cost us $200 for the year. (Between fundraisers and school events, I probably spent over a thousand bucks at her old school -- free education, my ass.)
Every state has a list of standards for each subject area that the state feels must be met for each grade level. You can always go to a state's department of education website to inquire about the standards for each subject.
ReplyDeleteyay for homeschooling!
ReplyDeletethere's a curriculum that i found as well called bridgeway academy. but since you'll be teaching before i will be, let me know how that catholic one goes.
@KRR - I contacted the state and they redirected me back to my school district. Of course, the school district told me that there were no set standards, but that Kaelin would have to take a standardized test each year and pass it. (Which I laughed at becauseour public school district doesn't qualify for government funding because they did so badly on this test for the last few years.)
ReplyDeleteOf course, we'll be moving to a different state in September (no clue which one yet) and hopefully they'll be more helpful.
I am also embarking on the homeschool journey. I have a 2nd grader, who was in school for Kindergarten and First grade. We are going to do a structured unschooling approach. We are starting this summer and seeing how things go. I hope it all works out well for you! :)
ReplyDelete@mommymichael - I bet it's going to be really exciting to homeschool 3 at the same time, especially so close in age! I need to get working on a little schoolmate for Harper.
ReplyDelete@Nakai - Good luck! I'm think I'm way too type A to commit to unschooling, but honestly, we've been doing it for years when Kaelin's home from school. She's very inquisitive on her own.