School is Ubiquitous

We made the decision to Home School our kids (well, schooling at home via Connections Academy as a guide, on which we are free to elaborate)
School is ubiquitous. There is so much more out there in addition to what is in the official, state-assigned text book.

• I want my kids to to learn beyond the classic brick and mortar classroom setting.
• I want them to be self-starters and have a sense of responsibility and ownership of their work and be proud of their accomplishments as well as their struggles.
• I want them to follow their interests without peer pressure to tell them it’s “dorky” or “lame” or “stupid”.
• I don’t want the walls of the classroom to limit what we can do or where we can visit during the day that could add to their knowledge and social experiences.
• I don’t want to wait for field trips to come around.
• I want them to learn using real life examples and not just learning from a book or dictation.
• I want them to REALLY learn the concepts and know how to apply them; not just barely recall info to preform on a multiple-choice quiz and then forget the material shortly after.
• I want them to feel free to question the materials they are learning, and to not take everything they read to be the absolute, end all, be all – especially in history lessons.  Who knows the true story of Columbus, beyond the surface the way we learned it?  Was it exceptionalism, or truly great? I don’t want to tell them, I want them to research both sides and come up with their own opinion.
• But wait, there’s more!

(gasp for air here… pfew!)
When I was in elementary school, I didn’t sufficiently learn all of the basics, but still received an “E” (for Excellent, the equivalent of an “A” you’d receive in higher grade levels).  I passed through the system without the teacher noticing that I didn’t ever really learn my complete times tables; and thank goodness for the modern “Spell Check”, because without it, I would often spell phonetically and not properly!  I was also really interested in science as a young kid, but when I brought my microscope to school in the 3rd grade to examine mud puddle water at recess, my school mates said it was lame. I didn’t make that mistake again – I wanted to be “cool”, not “lame”!  It didn’t dawn on me until that moment that microscopes aren’t “cool”.   I do not want that to happen to my kids – I want to make sure they actually learn and know the materials, and not just enough to get by.  I want them to be able to explore uninhibited with a microscope if that is what interests them.  Maybe I could have found the cure for cancer by now if I hadn’t put my microscope away?!
So, Home School, it is!
When I started to research home schooling and how other parents did it, I soon realized that it can be expensive to buy quality materials.  Also, I think I needed a little more structure to be sure my kids learned the basics that kids their same age are learning at the same time.  I also wanted to be sure I properly taught Math.  I detest Math (I just shuttered after typing the word twice).  When I was in school, I did the minimum requirements in math, mostly because I didn’t get it.  I wasn’t the type to ask for help, so my teachers never noticed that I didn’t know the material because I seemed to manage on the quizes… mostly because they were multiple choice, leaving open the option of trial and error.  It was painful getting straight A’s in every subject but math. I don’t want math to be painful for my kids and to later evoke a physical response with the pure mention of it!
I think I found a good balance.
We discovered the Connections Academy (there is one in almost every state).  It is an online Public School!  DA-DAAAAAAAAAA! So, I am given all I need to provide my kids with a state-accredited education, but we have the freedom to learn on our own terms!  Since the lessons are available online, we also have the freedom to learn from wherever we are – our home, in the backyard, at the Science Museum, on a boat, train, or RV… as long as you can get internet connection, you can be at school.  There are also physical text books, workbooks, and other necessary materials all provided FOR FREE!  SCORE!  Your student is also assigned a real-life teacher who is only a phone call or email away, so there is always a backup for [math!] lessons.
So, this blog.
Mostly, I wanted to be able to recount and keep track of my kids’ progress, but it is also to share with others who might find it interesting, and family and friends who want to see what we’re up to during the day!  I don’t think our way is “better” (well, better than no school at all!) and I’m not comparing my kids to your kids (that’s not my style); it is simply the path we are choosing to skip down, humming and whistling all the way.   ENJOY!