.png)
For 15 years I've been a teacher and educator in South Florida, for 2 a parent and now, a not so reluctant homeschool parent. Let me explain.
I'd always been curious about homeschooling. The bright, curious, previous homeschoolers i'd had the pleasure to teach over the years had only piqued my curiosity further. Now, my son was almost 2 and needing more to keep him challenged. Despite being a teacher, the majority of my experience was with highschoolers. I was lost!
I dove into learning more about the world of homeschooling. I joined the Facebook groups and bought curriculums (Blossom and Root Early Years and Torchlight PK). I started experimenting and trying to figure out what would work for my eclectic, non-traditional family.
I wasn't alone in this, my mother is an experienced Montessori teacher, my sister, is a state certified early education teacher trained in Reggio Emilia. They were the folks I'd run ideas by and who would help me modify what needed to be modified. Homeschooling would be a family affair, we'd take it slow, letting him lead and following his interest. Even my grandmother would jump in and assist with activities during the day.
Then the coronavirus hit! The tide changed and suddenly I was not only a full-time teacher but also at home full time.
This blog is our journey and my opportunity to share with you a first hand account of what homeschooling can look like. There will be reviews of curriculum, lists of books we're reading, and how we're mixing a range of elements together to fit our needs. This won't bea textbook review of curriculum but information on what has actually worked for us and just as importantly, what hasn't.
There will be curriculum here too. Despite trying and looking through various science options, I couldn't find something that met our needs. I'll go into depth on this later but living in Miami, most of the science curriculum that's out there is just not designed for us. As a highschool STEM teacher I know the experiences I want my son to have early on in the sciences and started creating the activities and units that would ensure he had them.
Our solutions and approach may not fit your family, that's OK. Hopefully you'll find something else of benefit in this blog. Different families homeschool for different reasons, have access to different resources, and have kids with varying personalities and needs. There is no one size fits all for homeschooling, that's part of what makes it such a great option.
I'm not sure where this voyage ends but stick around and let's see where the current takes us.
