Katie the Scrapbook Lady

School is starting soon and I’m skeered!

I homeschool my kids. Actually, they are teenagers (almost age 14 and almost age 17) – Holy Cow! I’m feeling old when I read that. I’m also feeling a bit overwhelmed. We got our school supplies in the mail last week. We use a virtual academy online program (details here) so all the courses are planned out for us. This is wonderful in many ways. This is also a bit daunting.

It’s like Christmas morning when we open the boxes! I love all the new books and supplies and so do my students. Here’s my daughter with her bounty.

It’s all fun and exciting till you start looking at the huge stack of books and realizing that this is work that needs to be done. Lots of reading, teaching, working, and learning.

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Then there’s my son. He’s in the high school program so there are not as many books. Most of the learning materials are found online. He did receive some literature books, Geometry books, and a TON of science lab supplies.

The lowest grade I ever got in my entire life was in my high school Geometry class. I will not be posting that grade here on the blog. I try to pretend it never happened. The good news is that math is the one subject I outsource. I pay a tutor (more like an angel!) to come and work with both of my kids for math. As a result, both of them are really great at math. I’m not. I can figure out sales tax, balance a checkbook, and quickly run through everyday math problems in my head. I’m very good at practical math. Once the words “algebra” and “geometry” entered my life, it all became a confusing haze. I never got it. As long as my tutor is around, I’m loving life and so are my kids!

Did I mention that we also got a TON of science lab supplies? My son is taking high school chemistry. I never took chemistry. Ever. We have no tutor for Chemistry. My husband is a scientist, but he also has one of the busiest schedules of any human I have ever met.

It dawned on me that I’m the learning coach for a class that is way above my head. A class that I have never had any experience with.

When I look at all of these chemicals, I have to admit that I’m skeered! (scared!)

It’s going to be a busy school year!

Answering your questions - the homeschool edition

Still working my way through some of the great questions I’ve been asked lately. I love hearing from my readers and it has been fun to respond to these topics. Today’s questions are about homeschooling:

Is your homeschooling program expensive? My son goes to a private school and sometimes I think about the possibilities of homeschooling. Do you incorporate any physical fitness into the homeschool program? – Dawn F.

map vs. globe lesson

Our program is free because it is a charter school that is run online through k12.com. It is paid for by state tax dollars. We receive an incredible amount of fabulous materials and lesson plans to work with each year. We have online teachers that we work with and set deadlines to keep us on task. It is a very demanding program, but I do not have to plan lessons, I act as their learning coach to help my kids complete the work they are assigned. We do have to meet attendance requirements and participate in state testing. I like the way the state requirements are implemented and that colleges look favorably upon k12.com based programs like ours.

My kids have to take physical education and at first I honestly had no idea how that would work. It is actually really neat though, because they can choose what types of exercise they want to do and I log their time. They also have some assigned reading and quizzes to teach them fitness basics. I love it because we usually go walking together for our P.E. time. Sometimes when it’s cold outside we play indoor volleyball with a balloon or dance to music. My kids have told me that I should never dance in public. I’m thrilled to know that I have a weapon to use against them if they ever need to be disciplined. lol!

If you are in the United States and like the idea of a structured virtual school, check out k12.com for details. I don’t think all the states offer the free academy like Utah does, but I think many of them do. I know that k12.com also has some options for overseas students. If you want more freedom in a homeschooling program, this is probably not a good option. You might be happier ordering and managing your own curriculum and schedule.

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I have to admit that I never planned on homeschooling my kids. It just sort of evolved over the years. They both have attended public schools in the past, and my son went to a wonderful school for children with autism for many years. While this isn’t the path I thought I would be on, I love and cherish the experiences I am having with my kids. It is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. It is very worthwhile though and I’m happy to have this opportunity.

you never know when digi skills are going to come in handy!

Yesterday my son had a big health project due where he had to create a media piece that educated about an important topic. It needed to be something he could post online to share with others in his virtual classroom. I whipped out the laptop and we searched istock.com for some stock photos. We only needed the small resolutions since it was a web based project. Then he researched the facts and helped me figure out where to place the graphics. I think it turned out pretty cool if I may say so.

and here's a link to one of the websites where he got his information.

Today is the first day...

For the first time since 1997 I'm not sending anyone off to school - they are both staying home with me. I've been homeschooling my son for 2 years now but we are entering new territory here with both kids doing an online virtual academy.

I'm their official "Learning Coach", Mentor, Homeroom Teacher, Lunch Lady, Librarian, "Bus" Driver, P.E. Coach, Spanish Teacher, Science Teacher, Math Teacher, English Teacher, Music Teacher, History Teacher, Art Teacher, Field Trip Coordinator, Head Janitor, and I have a little side job called MOM.

Wish me luck!