It feels like summer is winding down and fall is quickly approaching.  I think it's because I got back-to-school shopping to do.  Since we homeschool, my back-to-school shopping lists looks a little more like a college student's list more so than a public/private education student list.  I am taking the economical route and purchasing mostly used books through Amazon.com.  However, those $25 and $100 book sets are starting to really add up. 

This will be our first full year of homeschooling.  I started the kids in January of this year (one of my better decisions I must add).  I'm getting a first hand look at just how expensive things can get.  Especially when you're not following a "boxed" curriculum.  We plan to use the classical approach with heavy emphasis on history.  I have been organizing for the upcoming "school" year by making list, using One Note to keep all of our documents together in one application.  I also took the time (finally) and went through Donna Young's homeschool forms on her website.  That site is a lifesaver!  I now have Excel documents to keep grades and attendance.  The best part is this is all free. 

I think I'm more excited about starting school again now more so when I was actually a student.  I'm looking forward to reading along with both of the kids and discussing Great Books.  I especially look forward to science this year.  Ari will study Chemistry, complete with lab work and all; and Rodney will focus first on Earth Science, then Astronomy.  I can't wait to start planning museum trips!  Fingers-crossed we can make it to the Smithsonian this fall.

I am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity I have to take this approach to parenting.  I am one of the many folks out there who believe that public education is not for every child.  I was brought up through the public school system, as most people I know, and for the most part I've turned out better than average ;-)  However, I found my children on a path to "just good enough".  It started in the middle school years.  I knew I didn't want that for my children.  I also knew that we were in a unique situation due to all of the job related moves, so homeschooling wasn't such a bad idea.