First Year Homeschool Memories: Snow in Texas

One of the things I loved about homeschooling was the rare fleeting moments we would get when everyone else was in school.   Like enjoying a brief Texas snow flurry.

Snow is rare in Texas, so even the smallest dusting is a treat.   That morning we headed out as soon as the snowflakes began to fall.   There was a little koi pond at a gardening store at the end of our block...and we walked out to it.  My son wanted to know if fishes get cold.  I'm sure they do...they were all huddled up on the bottom in one corner of the pond...and didn't come up to the top to greet us like they usually do.

My other two were in school when the snow hit.  After we finished our walk out in the white stuff, I hemmed and hawed about whether to go get them out of school.  I finally looked at the weather and it said it would get warmer later so I got my youngest re-bundled and got in the car.

It was still snowing when we left, but half way to their school it started to rain. Alas, no point in them missing a day to play in slush, so we turned around.

My older two later told me they did get a few minutes out in the snow.  At the intermediate school the whole school got to go outside for 10 minutes (not much, but at least it was something).  The elementary school stayed inside for recess (Ptttth!  Come on!  Let them play in it!  But, maybe it was turning to rain by then.).  However,  during library time the kids were taking pictures through the window, and the librarian had pity on them and let them go outside for a few minutes to take pictures of the snow with their ipads.   Yeah for librarians!   But honestly, with how infrequently we got snow back in Texas, I'm surprised the teachers didn't jump on the change to let the kids experience it.    I was sorry my older kids didn't get to do more than that.   But it made me so thankful that at least my youngest home for it. 


Shared on Throwback Thursday

A Change of Paths...and What's Ahead for Imaginative Homeschool

I have a big announcement to make.    After four years of homeschooling my youngest (my only homeschooler), we made the the difficult decision to try public school again. We have LOVED homeschooling, but for various reasons this was the right decision for us . 

I didn't announce it right away because we weren't sure how it was going to go, and I had so much emotional  baggage to sort through.  I wasn't even sure if he would stay or be back homeschooling in a few months, but he's happy and doing well so it looks like we're sticking with this. 

This is NOT the end of homeschool content on this blog!    To start with, I have the rest of our Story of the World chapters to blog about (I've only blogged to chapter 13 but we are FINISHED with Volume 1 and half way through Volume 2.)   That's about 50 posts right there alone.  And I have notes on A BUNCH of other things we did while homeschooling that I plan to finally get around to blogging about.   I have resources for All About Spelling and Math U See I never posted, lots of arts and crafts I'll be sharing, and more tricks and tips on a variety of subjects.   I will keep the name "Imaginative Homeschool" for now, as it still describes a lot of what I'll be blogging about.   You'll notice though that I've adding "+ afterschooling and summer-school" to the blog header because that describes the part of our journey we're on now, which I plan to blog about too!

Our summer-schooling will be a lot like our homeschooling was during the year (only maybe just 3 days a week).   My kiddo needs it to prevent summer slide, plus there's so much interest based stuff that we wanted to do and haven't done yet.  

I also think its important to blog about our experience going back to "traditional school" after homeschooling, because in some ways that's as difficult a leap as starting homeschooling can be, and a very different experience from sending kids to school who have never homeschooled.  And while there's lots of guidance out there for new homeschoolers, there's a lot less for homeschoolers returning to traditional school, and I want to help others going through the same thing...or at least share my experience so they can feel like they're not alone. 

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope you'll stick with us for the rest of ours.

With Love,
Gale

Public School Flashback: 10 Things I Hate About The School Supply List

I have one homeschooled and two still in school.  While choosing a curriculum is a headache, and of course you need to get some school supplies at home, it is no where close to the headache I go through with my two public school kids.  

This is not a criticism of the need for school supplies--nor criticism of the teachers or school for asking for stuff.  I totally get that what they ask for are reasonable things to ask in exchange for educating my children, and I know the teacher's own shopping list is just as long (I once taught in public school...so I get it).  But like many other necessary things, it's still a pain in the butt sometimes every single year.  


10 Things I Hate About Back to School Shopping

• Spending an hour+ searching for things on the list.  It's like a scavenger hunt, only less fun.

• Cryptic descriptions of school supplies I've never heard of.

• Having to go to 3 stores to find that ONE required color folder that always seems to run out.

• Finding the exact brand the teacher asked for, specifically, and right next to it finding a seemingly identical product by another brand for half the price.  

• Accidentally mixing up some of one child's school supplies with another's.

• Clothes shopping with a picky child. 

• Getting your kids new clothes and shoes, just to have them walk through the mud in their new shoes the day before school.  (Mental note...next time I will not let my child use their new shoes early, no matter how worn the old ones are, or how much they beg me).

• Not being able to find all the things you actually can re-use from last year (like scissors and earbuds), buying another, then finding the one's from last year 2 days after school starts.

•  Realizing after the first day of school that after all that time and effort you STILL managed to miss some things. 

• Having to repeat all this hullabalu a week later when your high schoolers and middle schoolers bring home the lists for their classes. 

If, like me, you have some kids in public school, take a breath and remember we at least we only have to do this once a year!

If you are exclusively homeschooling, take a moment to stop and reflect on the blessing of getting to  skip all this!   I remember how relieved I was when I went "back to homeschool shopping" for my youngest for the first time...dry erase markers, a notebook, some paper, a dinosaur book and sweat pants.   THAT WAS IT.  (Ok, ok...maybe that's not accurate.   I guess I wasn't counting the months I spent searching for the right curriculum.).   

Whether you are homeschooling or traditional schooling or a little bit of both, hope you and your children have a great school year!