When I pulled my son out of school last year, I said we would homeschool either until it wasn't working for us or we found the ideal school. Well, we found what think to be the ideal school. (if you'd like to look into the school for your own children, just send me an email!)
I started looking at this school after another homeschooling mom mentioned it to me a couple of weeks ago. It is a Core Knowledge school which means they follow the idea that there are certain things that all children should learn and that even the youngest of learners are capable of learning topics such as the ancient world and geography. As a homeschooler, I was aligning my own program to the Core Knowledge plan. I also saw that the school is basing their language arts block on Fountas & Pinnell system of guided reading and writers' workshop. This was the system that I used while teaching in the classroom and I believe in it heavily.
Then the kicker to get me to enroll the kids was the school's focus on healthy living and healthy eating! They do not allow junk food in the school! Yes! No children with these or these or this in their lunchboxes! The school actually encourages parents to pack additive-free and artificial color-free foods for their children! The school also has arranged for the caterers (yes, they cater the hot lunch in each day!) to include whole wheat breads and healthier alternatives. Oh, and what also made me happy is that they ask ALL parents to send a healthy snack to school with their child...not just the kindergartners....every child in every grade will be allowed to eat a snack in the middle of the morning! As the mother of two children who need to eat every couple of hours, this makes me very happy.
I am sure that I will miss the fun and freedom of homeschooling but I think this is really the right thing to do right now for H & O. They are both excited and ready. I think the nice break we took with homeschooling has truly helped to erase some of the negative feelings that H had about school after his month and a half of first grade last year.
Tomorrow is the first day, we've been to Target this afternoon and have purchased all of the supplies. We've purchased school uniforms (both from Sears and Lands End) have bought new shoes and socks (O will only wear the seam free type socks) and have prepped the kids for a busy morning tomorrow (we have to be out of the house by 7:30am!).
Wish us luck!
Sounds like an awesome school! there is one near to us that we like the sound of...but we can't afford at the moment, so we continue with homeschooling. :)
Posted by: Carla B | August 26, 2008 at 10:59 AM
Wow...I missed something along the way!! lol. I'm happy you found what's right for you (and H&O) though! : )
Posted by: Laura | August 26, 2008 at 08:26 PM