Our Journey to Homeschooling, Part 2

During the summer of 2010, I followed the lead to not enroll Shana in a pre-Kindergarten program.  I had found several, including "Little Lambs of Peace Preschool," but really didn't have peace, ironically, with putting her in that school. 

So, I explored the idea of homeschooling further.  I surrendered to the idea, and even researched different curricula.  I explored and even purchased Sonlight P4/5, and promptly realized that for me it didn't work.  The books were a bit too violent for Shana, and the readings seemed disjointed.  It also comes with way more material than one could do in a year, and I really felt that with my compunction to complete tasks and check things off lists, then I would not really like it myself.  We read New Toes for Tia, and Shana got scared.  I had a friend using this curriculum, so I was able to pass it along to her.

I also stumbled upon "Five in a Row," a literature-based unit study in which one uses a specific book to learn about social studies, language arts, applied math, science, and art.  It is a sweet program, one in which students learn much about the world around them and fall in love with particular books.  The originators even offer a Bible study supplement and a cookbook to accompany the family's lessons.  I was missing a connector, a spine to weave together all the lessons into a cohesive bunch.

Then, I found "Heart of Dakota."  A friend mentioned it to me, and I researched it.  Upon first glance, I didn't understand how scripted it was and decided to forego it in favor of Ambleside Online.  Both of these curricula are based on the precept and principles of Miss Charlotte Mason, a 19th century British educator.  I'm not going to do her philosophies justice, but essentionally she believed in the following:

• Informal education for toddlers and preschoolers, waiting for formal education until age 6
• Learning through play and nature studies
• Reading focuses on comprehension, and that is monitored by narration, an essential skill in education
• Short lessons keep students' attention and reinforce skills on a daily basis

Ambleside Online is a wonderful program, but as I went along, I found that I was still missing the cohesiveness I wanted.  In addition, I realized that, though many users of Charlotte Mason's principles, and Charlotte Mason herself, were and are Christians, Bible study and focus on a Christian worldview are still ancillary.  I found that I really didn't like that.  AO also lacked a cohesiveness that I knew I needed.

While both programs still require the parents to choose phonics, math, and handwriting, Heart of Dakota has a program picked out that seems to be challenging and methodical.  It also is Christ-centered, providing the cohesiveness and Biblical focus I sought.  Christ is interwoven into every day's lesson in such a way that the child can form a Biblical worldview without the parent trying to find a way to insert Christ into books that are read.

In the meantime, as all this was occurring from October 2010-December 2010, I was teaching in the Christian school.  More on that in "Our Journey to Homeschooling, Part 3."