My Decision to Homeschool

The decision to homeschool, for me, was one that took me by complete surprise. Up until a few short weeks ago, I thought that homeschooling would absolutely NEVER be apart of our lives. Well, never say never, right?! ;) I think that some of you who know me and especially those that are close to me are a little baffled by my decision and perhaps are even a little skeptical if I'll follow through with my decision. Honestly, if I were in your shoes, I probably would feel the same way. I know that I am not well known as someone with a great deal of stick-to-it-iveness or self-discipline. Great at planning, terrible with the follow through - that's me! I get excited about a new venture and then bomb out at the first sight of trouble. Hence the dieting ups and downs...well, really just downs. : / For those of you who especially care about my kids and may be nervous about this decision and their well-being, I am writing this post to try to reassure you a little bit. You may be worried that I am going to get into something that is way over my head and I want to try to clear up any uncertainty and ease your mind. I swear, that I, Jennifer Fanucci, am not going into this blindly or with any fantasy ideas of what homeschooling is going to be like in our home. I am doing as much research as possible and trying to gather information from as many different sources as I can. I want to know the benefits, the challenges, the reasons why and why not I should homeschool. I am praying for an open mind and an open heart. These are my kids and NO ONE loves them and wants the best for them as much as I do. Well...except for God! :) I realize that the subject of homeschooling is often a controversial one and some of you may be against it altogether. That is okay. I realize that it is not for everyone. My philosophy has always been with regard to people is that "variety is the spice of life"! :)

So, with that being said; I have been doing some homeschool of my own. Homeschool about homeschool, if you will. This will probably be the greatest learning experience for me and through this, I am not only learning about school lessons but also life lessons. A friend of mine recommended the book 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy. At first, it was a very overwhelming read! In fact, after perusing it briefly, I got a little nervous and let it sit for a few days. I've taken the last week to find out more about the curriculum that my homeschooling friends use. I also met with a family member of my husbands to find out what homeschooling was like for her and her family. If there is one thing that I know in life it's that the unknown is SCARY and what better way to combat that fear than by gleaning knowledge thereby making the unknown KNOWN. It's like walking into a dark room and not knowing what to expect - knowledge is finding a light switch and turning it on. Feeling a little more confident in the knowledge that I received from my homeschooling friends, I was finally able to pick back up Cathy Duffy's book. In chapter 2, she discusses Establishing Your Own "Philosophy of Education" so this is where I am to begin. First I need to establish the why's and then, I will establish the how's.

What are my Homeschool Priorities?

I want my children to:

*learn more about the Bible on a regular basis
*learn life skills as opposed to just school basics
*love to learn and have fun doing it
*develop a strong bond with each other and with our family
*enjoy a relaxed style of learning rather than having all the pressures of a formal classroom
*be able to enjoy evenings with the family rather than having them consumed with homework

How Do You Think That Learning Should Happen?

I prefer a traditional school approach with elements that are a little more outside the box.

How Do You Want to Teach or "Run Your School"?

1) Do you want to try to teach most or all of your children together, at least for some subjects?
Yes! Nicolas and Natalie are only a little over 13 months apart and with their individual learning styles, I believe that they would do well being taught the same curriculum and grade level. Noah, who is only 2 1/2 at the present time, will obviously need to be taught on his own when his time comes.

2) How much of the time do you want (or are able) to work directly with your children?
I'd like to develop a specific time frame for them to learn - preferably a.m. when we are all at our best. Obviously, this is something that we will work out in detail when we establish what curriculum we will be using.

3) How much of the time to you expect your children to work independently?
Not very much! Unless they have some time of seat work to do, I think that most often, I will be working with them rather than them being able to work independently at their young ages.

4) Do you want to use real books (biographies, historical novels, books written about particular science topics, etc) as part of your curriculum?
Yes! I think that it is so important for children to develop a love of reading beyond textbooks.

5) Do you want to include field trips? What type of field trips?
Yes, absolutely! Certainly educational field trips are great to make certain subjects more 'colorful' and fun to learn. This is especially good for my learners who are more visual and learn based on feelings rather than lecture or text. #WigglyWilly's! *Just for fun* field trips are also something we're looking forward to. ;)

6) Do you like to "make up" curriculum as you go, adapting to the needs and interests of your children, or do you prefer things well planned out in advance?
No, definitely not. I need structure, for sure.

7) Do you need a set schedule to get things done, or would you prefer more flexibility?
I think that a set schedule is really more needed than wanted. I believe that we will plan out our day but will not freak out if something should happen that throws a wrench in and we can't stick to the program for that day. One of the great things about homeschool is the flexibility it gives to our family however, I do believe that we will try to stick to a specifically set schedule on a regular basis.

8) Do you prefer a curriculum that is thoroughly laid out with lesson plans that tell you what to do when or do you prefer just an outline to follow?
I think that for the first year, at least, I am going to feel more comfortable having thoroughly laid out lesson plans. It will take some of the pressure off of me so that I can focus more on my kids and what they are learning.

9) Any additional thoughts about how you want to operate?
Our home is fairly disorderly right now. My husband works all kinds of hours and we do not typically live by any real set-in-stone schedule. I don't deny that we need more structure in our home but I do believe that homeschooling is going to give us the flexibility that a family like ours needs. As it is now, my husband rarely sees my son, Nicolas, during the week. Nicolas is in kindergarten at our local public elementary school and his bus comes at 7:45 a.m. when my husband is still sleeping. When Nicolas gets off the bus at 3:26 p.m., my husband has already left for work and typically will not get home until after Nicolas has gone to bed for the evening. My daughter Natalie will be entering kindergarten this year and if she had the same schedule, my husband would see her on an irregular basis as well. You can probably see why this current system isn't the best for us. This is not to mention that my evenings are very hard to handle at times. Once Nicolas gets off the bus, things are set in motion for a busy night. There is homework, dinner, baths, reading, prayer time, bedtime etc etc etc. And it's all on me the majority of the evenings during the week since my husband doesn't get home until late. My husbands schedule isn't going to change anytime soon and so yes, I will still have to battle our evenings as a "single parent" but homeschooling will eliminate the need for homework and also give us the freedom to take baths etc during the day rather than before bed. The more I think about homeschool and the freedom and flexibility it will give our family, I wonder why I was so against it in the first place.

I'm really looking forward to things like not having to rush out the door for the bus, lunches together as a family (and not having to pack them!), the freedom to live and learn together, evenings free from homework and being able to teach my children not only basic school lessons but also life lessons which will include chore time, Bible reading and daily devotions. I'm also looking forward to teaching creation vs. evolution (one of my absolute FAV subjects!)

So, there you have it; the WHY (and a little bit of the HOW) behind my decision to homeschool. My husband is completely on board which is a blessing and I have received a tremendous outpouring of support from my friends and family which I am also very grateful for. Hopefully, this post will clear up any uncertainty you may have had. God works in wonderful mysterious crazy ways and when you tell him NO, he'll usually find a way to make you turn that No into a Yes - and then make you SO GLAD you did. I'm thankful for the book Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson which was my original encouragement for homeschooling. The chapter on Boys in School was particularly eye opening. I do think that this is the best decision for our family. Whether it's a permanent decision, I don't know. It could just be the right choice for right now. Sometimes, it's like that. As in everything in life, I am trying to take this one day at a time. Please pray for me and our family that we keep our heart open to Him and his leading in all that we do. Especially when it comes to homeschooling since this is all so new to us. Specifically, please be in prayer that we find the right curriculum for our family. That is my next step and it's a doozy! There are SO MANY options to choose from! Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I appreciate you all so much! :)

With love and gratitude,