Homeschool Take 2

This past December I was telling me friend how worn out I was from homeschool.  She reminded me Kindergarten isn't even required in Texas and that I shouldn't stress out about doing everything.  She shared with me how her son does homeschool online.  It was called ReadingEggs.com. It made learning fun with games plus they had Math Seeds.  We decided to give the free trial a try and Hall loved it!

So in January we switched to Reading Eggs, still reading though in our books.  I even added Preston on there to do preschool.

Around March we were trying to decide what to do in the Fall for school.  Although Reading Eggs was working better for us I wanted Hall to be more social.  He is such a talker and I love him, but his constant talking, plus his sister, made me exhausted.  We decided to look into private school.  Yes we still have a huge public school next to us but we just aren't ready for his innocence to be exposed to so much of the world.  I think it is just so different with boys. They aren't programmed to be able to sit still 7 hours a day 5 days a week. Perhaps one day if we move the kids will attend a smaller public school.

Thus began our journey of coming across Valor....

Valor Preparatory Academy is a Christian, classical, University-Model School, serving Kindergarten through 6th grade students and their families.

What does university model mean?  When we went to the interest meeting they started to explain it like this.....most students attend a public school 25+ hours a week for their whole education.  Then when they go off to college and cut back to 12-18 hours a week of school they don't know how to manage their time.  At Valor you go to school M,W,F 8:15-3:15pm, on Tuesday and Thursday the student is homeschooled.  The teacher sends home what to go over so the parent doesn't have to come up with the curriculum.

So the school and parents partner together to educate the child.  It isn't all on the school and not all on the parent.

The classical method of education is a three-stage approach to instruction with the goal of producing graduates who have mastered the art of learning so that they may skillfully acquire and apply knowledge, reason critically, and articulate persuasively.  The students don't just memorize facts and get tested they figure out why the answer is what it is.

After the interest meeting Jonathan and I both felt peaceful about the school.  Plus Hallister's best friend would be attending we later found out.  The classes are so small, maybe 10-12 students, and there is only one class per grade, so 1 K class, 1 1st grade class, etc.  I am excited about the one-on-one attention Hall will receive and this will allow his leadership skills to shine through.  In addition to the normal reading, writing and math he will be taught Spanish, Science, Bible, Geography, Music and Art!

Of course the word "private" school usually means a cost is involved, and there is. We have to purchase books and uniforms plus pay for school.  I believe the education he will receive is worth the cost. We have just been believing that all things will work out since we really felt led to do this.  To help pay for his school I am continuing to work my Jamberry business with online parties and managing my team, plus I recently got a weekend job, but more to come with that in another post.

We decided Preston is not yet ready for Kindergarten.  He has some maturing to do plus there is no way we could afford to start both boys off at Valor.  I will continue to do Reading Eggs with Preston at home. We are focusing on one year at a time!