Homeschool Ponderings

I think I've come to the conclusion that while homeschooling is definitely the right thing for our family, CAVA (California Virtual Academy) may not be. It's been a great experience for us but for a while now I've been getting itchy feet. There are so many other neat things to do and learn and I'm feeling stifled by the K12 curriculum. Don't get me wrong. It's an excellent academic curriculum and my kids and I are learning a lot from it, but it's taking a lot of the joy out of learning as we try to just get through the tons of it every day. It leaves us little time to detour and delve more deeply into things that truly interest. There never seems to be any time to read quietly to my younger ones of the classics as I'm aching to do. Matt seems truly bored with the Lit and History and it's like pulling teeth to get him to work in those subjects. Chris is stoically plowing ahead but I've been uneasy about their high school program and really wanted him to have a lot more input into what he studies at the high school level. I have always felt that by high school, yes, we need to make sure there is a good foundation but that children also have a good feel for what interests them and should be allowed to include those things.

I've been reading "A Thomas Jefferson Education" by Oliver Van DeMille. I've seen a lot of people talking about this education style and have had several people recommend it to me. I finally had a chance to get a copy and all I can say so far is WOW! This is exactly what I've felt all along. I find it ironic that I should be reading it at a time when I've decided that my own education was remiss in teaching me the classics and that I want to read them for myself, especially the philosophers and further my own education as well as start my children reading the children's classics and eventually try to get them to join me in my classical education journey.

So with these thoughts rattling around in my head, I've talked it over with Mark and the 2 big boys and I'll be moving at least those two over to Ocean Grove in the fall. We'll finish out the year with CAVA and make sure we are sure of what we are doing. I'll leave Jonathan in with CAVA until I know more how Ocean Grove would handle his therapy and we are a bit more settled in there. I was talking with several friends who have already made the jump and are very happy with it. Apparently, not only do they have a wide selection of curriculum to choose from (including K12 if we want a particular subject from them) but they understand when you say you want to pursue a Thomas Jefferson style of education and they have already done a lot of the research and have curriculums chosen that are compatible with that style of education. Again, all I can say is WOW! This journey has not been easy but I have been amazed at how each step along the way, the right thing for us at that moment has come shining through out of seemingly nowhere to light us on the next part of the path. G-d is definitely lighting our way through this entire process and I'm ever so thankful for his guidance.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

State of my sink: Shiny!