How I chose Classical homeschooling

The first family that I really talked to in depth about homeschooling was my pastor from high school and his wife. They have three children that they have homeschooled from Kindergarten on- two boys (one high school aged) and a sweet daughter. Their kids were everything that I wanted my kids to be- well read, eloquent, able to not only recite facts but logically work through a position.

I then looked at how those kids had arrived where they were. I knew that some of that was inborn temperment but I also knew that the careful, methodical, deep education that their children were receiving was also a factor.

I then set out about reading everything that I could about homeschooling- general arguements for and against, different types of homeschooling, about legal issues, about the big S- socialization, and I tried to find things on both sides, not just homeschool apologetics. The more I read the more intrigued I became, and the more homeschooling began to feel not just comfortable but something that might be a good choice for our children and our family.

At this time my oldest was in preschool in a classroom and utterly miserable. That helped push me to more seriously consider home education. We moved to a new area and made the choice to not enroll Sweet Pea in preschool and try it at home. At that point I was considering Classical Education with a strong Latin focus after reading The Latin Centered Curriculum by Andrew A. Campbell.

I did decide that the best way to begin was a generalized introduction to the basics to both assess where Sweet Pea was, get my own feet wet with planning and scheduling, and focus on age appropriate skills including fine motor activities. The books we started with were Rod and Staff's Preschool A-B-C series. Sweet Pea had a lot of fun and I saw that overall she was at age level. She knew her ABCs. She could color and cut and paste. She was also beginning to slowly enjoy learning and work again.
After a few months we added in Earlybird Mathematics or Singapore as it is commonly called. I think that this is where I really found her strong suit- and something that she really enjoyed.
Taking a year of doing general education also gave me time to go back and look again at where we were and where I hoped to have my children end up. I read The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise. And it appealed to me more then any homeschool material I had read before. It seemed to pull everything I liked about the Classical Education and also reintroduced some things that I felt were missing- great books being an easy example.
That brings us to where we are now.

Introduction

I always feel silly writing these things, but it's always one of the first things that I look for in someone else's blog.
As of the beginning of April, 2009, M, or Sweet Pea, is five years old. She's a big fan of the Magic Schoolbus, drawing, reading books about dragons and outer space, and pretending she's a princess. Her favorite subjects are math and science and in her free time she can often be found making crafts or caught up in an elaborate game of make believe.
G or Little Bird turns two in early May, 2009. She's not doing any formal education yet. She loves building with Duplos, playing with her sister, and puzzles. She's an easy going, happy toddler and is currently battling seizures.
I'm the mama of the family. I'm a bibliophile and slightly obsessed with reading about everything that strikes my fancy. When I'm not playing with the kids, cleaning up from our latest project or struggling to find time for everything I love to curl up with a book and daydream.
The papa doesn't do much with the homeschooling since his job has him very busy and working an unpredictable schedule. He's a pastor and it seems like he's always coming and going- and we have lots of fun when he's around.

A brief explanation about how we landed where we are in regards to homeschooling- we know a lot of families that homeschool but until I had children it was never something I really thought that I'd end up doing. Sweet Pea went to a year of private preschool and she was miserable. She came home crying more days then not some weeks and had a hard time socially. She's a very intense child and very sensitive as well. She also was overwhelmed and didn't learn well in a group setting- she was too busy processing everything that was going on and what she did know she was unwilling to demonstrate to the teacher.
We moved to a new house in a new state for the third time in as many years and made the decision to keep Sweet Pea home and let her regroup. Because she was interested in continuing the things she'd been learning in preschool I started thinking more about homeschooling and researching some fun, gentle things we could do at home. We began Rod and Staff's preschool curriculum and she loved it. We added in Singapore's Earlybird Mathematics and she loved that even more.
At this time I began reading heavily about homeschooling and different methods. A book that really spoke to me was the Latin Centerred Curriculum- and then I read the Well Trained Mind. I knew at that point that Classical Education was the fit for our family.
Sweet Pea has finished all her preschool stuff and is working on some Kindergarten stuff and some First Grade materials. And she's happy and learning. And our family is happy.
We've arrived.