3. Establishing Identity

To say I have been reading A LOT of homeschool blogs is an understatement. But in doing so, many of them are titled with an identity. I wondered, "Should we also have a name for our homeschool? What reasons would we need a school name?"

To name a few;

1. An official name is often requested when signing up for reading incentives, such as Pizza Hut's Book It!, Six Flags Read to Succeed or for education discounts.
2. A school name will be required for the children's high school transcripts that we prepare for upon their graduation.
3. Creating t-shirts to wear as a group when attending field trips sounded awesome to the kids.
4. Having a name may also help the kids have a sense of identity with their schooling.

That all being said, we took a week to come up with a name. It took much of our daily thought therefore it became tiresome. So, we decided to keep it simple. 

We are the Sage Harbor Homeschoolers. We attend Sage Harbor Homeschool.

Why Sage Harbor?

Last night (3/12/13) I was putting the key-chain back on my bag. The chain's logo was Sag Harbor. I thought, "Hey, that is a GREAT name!!" Add an E to Sag, making it SAGE. Sage means wise, or prudent which is marked by wisdom. Harbor is the first word of the neighborhood we live in, Harbor Point. I chose to keep "homeschool" in the name because Academy and University seemed like I was trying too hard, and Private School implies we charge a tuition. So simple it is, and it sounds GREAT.

Now that our school name is established, we needed a classroom. We placed our school in the home office. For the time being this will do just fine. We plan to add on, in the garage, another room (half is already converted) which is much bigger. As we continue on we will vamp it up to our liking. We really needed to get things organized before March 11th. Also, we are planning to make our own desks for the kids. The card table will do for now. Updates will come.

Here are pictures of our new "classroom". 

My 4th grader won her class Guinea Pig by submitting an essay. So we decided
to put him where he belongs. "Caden" is now our class GP. The three drawer organizer holds (top) coloring books, construction paper, drawing paper and sticker books. (Middle) Pencil boxes loaded with extra supplies. (Bottom) Education games such as Apples to Apples and Upwords. A wall shelf will be very necessary as we accumulate more educational aides.

We'll need to add wall shelves to hold all books and binders soon. This shelf is beginning to fill up quick.

We started a Field Trip Fund. N & H's Dad already donated $20 bucks. 
Got this globe at a yard sale for $2.

Each child has their own personal binder. One of my fifth graders said, "This binder is more organized than our public school binders!" To the right is reserved for our library books. Don't need those misplaced.

All of these reference books/material came from a second hand shop or yard sale. The globe book-end  was donated by my Father, M.W. 

Each subject has a journal to document notes & the like. These here could not fit in their binders. During the course of our homeschooling journey we will be reading two of the three books you see here. One of which, The Secret Garden, I read as a fifth grader. Found it at the second hand shop for $1.50.

Upside down pic, but that's OK. This is our inventory. Not all are present. We recently visited a very lovely 13 year old young lady who decided to clean out her room. She invited me over for first dibs on her pre-yard sale items. I took off with ALL of the school gear. This picture DOES NOT do what is actually under it all (and in other places) justice. There is enough supplies here to last the kids at least 2 years, if not more.

In the magazine section at Wal*Mart you can find maps, atlases and the like. I bought this world map and Texas map as a combo for less than $4. I plan on laminating the Texas map. The world map is up for quick reference to the continents & oceans as a visual during their studies.

OCD Anyone?

This pic was taken right after the room was "completed". We have added to it already. The T.V will come out, as this use to be a child's room/office. The closet there is packed full of writing paper, copy paper, binders, folders, glue. Everything my homeschoolers need. 

March 7th was the fifth graders Open House night at their current school. When mentioning to a teacher we were homeschooling she gave us this sign. Our last name is Slack. PERFECT. 

2. Eclectic Education

    In preparing for my monthly blog post I have come to realize that explaining WHY I have chosen to homeschool really isn't important. Rather, HOW is the most important question to be considered.

 In November 2012, when my husband and I decided we would be homeschooling, I began my research on the laws of my state concerning home based education. To my pleasant surprise Texas is known as a "free state". I happily checked that off of my long To Do list. 

 Next on my list was searching ways to homeschool four children in three different grade levels. I feared it would be costly. I dug deeper and found that since Texas is a free state we, the educator, have the privilege of creating our own curriculum OR purchase the many available online or in stores. The latter, of course, would cost us a little more than we could afford. So, falling in love with the many methods other homeschool families are using, I have chosen to take the eclectic approach.


WHAT'S THAT??

    As the name implies, I will be using a variety of approaches in an attempt to fully engage my children.  Having a patchwork of methods, I can be innovative and flexible. I can pick out and piece together curricula, in Unit Study form that I deem will best meet my children's learning needs.

There are so many online resources for anyone who chooses to take their child's education into there own hands. I found many aides while thrift shopping the other week! I may or may not use these items, but you can't beat B1G1 or .50 a book - unused at that! Besides, I LOVE TO SHARE.

My newest purchase will arrive soon. The McGraw-Hill Homeschooling Companion has a feature in the appendix in which each grade level's scope and sequence is listed. This is exactly what I have been looking for- someone to just tell me what to teach them. So now I use that to base my self-created curriculum. The remaining 10 weeks of school are planned out and ready to tackle! All the core-curricula is centered on one main theme, the children's Great Grandparents. 

    

    A wonderful attribute about being an eclectic homeschooler, as well as having stair-stepped students, is that each child has the opportunity to learn things outside of what the public school allows. This is simply a case of "You have to learn what the district tells us to teach you". My fourth grader will learn sixth grade or even higher. My sixth graders will be able to review fourth and fifth grade curricula. 

One homeschool blogger said this about the eclectic method , "...it can be so rich that people looking on aren't sure if the kids are 'schooling' or 'having fun'." I am sure the people we come across in our daily living/learning may think so. "When it looks a lot like having fun, you can be sure the kids are learning."

Visit back next month to see updates on the children's first 10 weeks of homeschooling. This will also be the last 10 weeks of the 2012-2013 school year.

  

1. Crossing the Road

    Congratulations. You just stopped at the most awesome little home school blog on the face of this hemisphere. Well, maybe not. But at least our children will think so. As the description states, this blog, along with my children's journalistic style blog to be shared with you in the future, is designed to display our adventure for our closest friends and family members. If you are reading this you have been invited to share our homeschooling experience with us. It WILL be a rough ride. It WILL be chaotic at times. It WILL be wonderful and, it WILL be inspiring to look back at my family's journey together and be amazed! Such is the same with the tortoise. (Could I be thinking of a MASCOT!? Husband shakes his head) 

The tortoise; small, slow. Not anxious to get where he is going. What a wonderful animal to mimic during our course. He begins his journey crossing the road. He knows his destination. He knows it takes time and patience. He may even encounter a distraction along the way. When he reaches his goal, the other side of the road, he may even look back and think to himself, "Look how far I've come!"

I could learn a lot from this patient creature. Learning should not be hurried. Learning should be long suffering. Learning should be enjoyed at the pace of the child, not the teacher nor the class. And, when a distraction comes our way we simply wait for it to pass and press on.

I am really eager to get started, as all I have done the past three months is research, inquire and prepare for the journey to "cross the road". Sharing my thoughts and excitement with the family at dinner gets the children as eager also. Why even this morning over breakfast (thank you Pinterest BTW for the idea with the eggs. Brilliant!) I mentioned yet another idea for next year's lesson plan. Before I knew it we were discussing HTML coding. I realized it was time to walk out the door for school. My, the groans that came from their disappointment! They were enjoying what I was showing them. They were involved. WE were learning. 

When I look back at this entry at the end of our first year I will be able to utter the thoughts of the tortoise, "Look how far we've come!" 

Thank you for stopping by. We plan to continue using Blogger as part of our computer learning and journal entry style blogging. 


Credits in reference to research tools I use: The Homeschooling Book of Answers: The 88 Most Important Questions Answered by Homeschooling's Most Respected Voices, McGraw-Hill Homeschooling Companion, and So You're Thinking About Homeschooling. Thanks to the Cedar Creek Library staff for your direction to these valuable tools.