We have been renting a large, old, (very old) farmhouse out in the country for the past 14 months, it's just getting to be too much for us, the heating bills are sky high, and well, there's just too many things wrong to list, I'd be here all day! So for the past several months we have been looking for a house in town and last month we finally found one. We were able to get a really good deal on it as it was a fore closer and the bank really wanted to get rid of it. The lady that owns the bank is a friend and gave us a great deal, we are thankful to have it. It comes with 5 acres, plenty of room for everybody to roam, although we plan to put up a fence for Sophie(and the kids) as it is still in city limits and dogs can't just run loose. We've been having central air and heat put in for the last 2 weeks, hopefully that can be finished this week so that we can get inside and start tearing wall-paper off walls (ugh, is there anything worse?) and start the painting. I've been meaning to take some pictures of the inside but every time we go over there I forget my camera. I always love to see before and after pictures, it makes it all seem worthwhile! The garage that you see in the 2nd picture is going to torn down this spring and we'll be building a new one. 
The side view
In other news, Brianna started preschool again today. I though that was an extremely long break, but in a way kinda nice. She seemed to have fun and especially since they FINALLY got to have their Christmas party, it had been canceled several times due to bad weather in December so the teacher just decided to have it the first day back in January. There was a gift exchange and she came home with a Bratz Baby, those things are so weird looking. Needless to say, it might not be sticking around here for that long! :)
I would love to have some input from some home-schooling mothers out there. I've been thinking about what to do for Kindergarten this coming year and still haven't made up my mind. There is not a Christian school (of any kind) here so I've thought about home-schooling, but don't really know that much about it. I would love to hear what curriculum's are used and what works well, and is somewhat easy for the teacher also! Any comments would be appreciated! :)
8 comments:
I think A Beka is the BEST for the beginning years. I worked at a school that used it & the 4 year olds were reading. The K5 kids knew more 'blends' and phonic sounds than I did! LOL
This is what I'm planning to use right now. They also have a DVD program for upper grades.
Cute house... I love before and after pictures too. Very nice that it is on 5 acres. That is alot of room!! I don't have much advice for homeschooling so I'll let everyone else answer that question! :)
I use Bob Jones curriculum. Krista and Kendrick are both great readers and Kara is doing well in K5. We record the satellite broadcast and then the kids watch that. It is very interesting; includes video clips, etc. More than I could do as a teacher. They also have DVDs and Hard Drives available. Check it out at www.bjupress.com.
Congratulations on your "new" house; I am so excited for you! As for the Bratz toys, you are so right. Ick!
In my humble opinion :-), I think homeschooling is the best way to go, and I love A Beka - only in the homeschool setting. As a student I was rather bored in the conventional classroom since I was confined to a lesson a day. In homeschooling, Seth and I do several lessons if we choose. I feel it is reasonably priced, thorough curriculum and attractively arranged to keep the kid's attention. I do not get the whole "kit and caboodle" but choose what I want him to take. You can save a lot of money that way! I noticed that Bob Jones was mentioned, and if you choose to go that way, I can possibly be of help. There is a "scratch and dent" store that sells some of their items at reduced prices. I have helped other friends by getting as much of the material as I can and shipping it to them via media mail. It seems to save a chunk of money that way.
Many thanks to everyone who gave their advice about all the different curriculum's available! It was very helpful. My hat has always gone off to homeschooling mothers, I just want to do what is best for my children.
Martha: Thanks for the kind offer to check on Bob Jones for me, I'll keep you in mind!
Lori - Even though I live in Lincoln, we are probably going to homeschool kindergarten this fall. I am going to use Sonlight. Expensive, but it's literature based which your kids might enjoy since they like books.
Amy
I love the pics of your house - congratulations! The setting is just beautiful.
I'm a homeschool mom, too and we're using ACE School of Tomorrow. This is our 3rd year - my boys are in 7th, 5th, and 3rd grade. My earlist experience with this curriculum is 1st grade - I don't know anything about the very beginning stages. My boys all did A Beka Kindergarten (and several more grades) in a great Christian School in Ohio.
I wish you the best in this endeavor...Melodie
Well, Lori, I'll put in my two cents worth. Our girls used the Bob Jones HomeSat for the middle school and upper grades, and we felt they got an awesome education without me having to sit for hours helping them. We recorded ours via satellite (even here in Mexico) but know you can lease the DVDs. Like A Beka, but instead of the classroom setting, the teacher talks directly to the child. Though the girls were in the higher levels, we could see some of the other classes as well, and we were always enthralled with the creativity and props used by the grade school teachers.
There's sure lots to choose from!
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