Kindergarten

Fletch has been in "school" for just about a month now. I can't believe I haven't posted about it at all! It's been an experience for our whole family.
We signed up with an homeschooling, charter resource school: Family Partnership.

I lean more towards wanting to unschool Fletch, what I really mean to say is I believe in unschooling. And that is what I would have chosen to do with Fletch and eventually Maggy if it were all up to me, which it is not. While Jim likes the idea behind unschooling, he sometimes views it more as unparenting. He really need more structure and teaching to happen in our homeschooling world. So we signed up.

It's been a bumpy ride already, some stuff we love: field trips, enrichment classes, free curriculum. Some we don't: star testing, weekly homework (for lack of a better word) chart to fill out, worksheets (yuck).

What it's really turned into though is our own form of unschooling while using what we like from Family Partnership. It feels like a good compromise.

Jim found out he loves to read with Fletch. They have read the first four books in the Five Ancestors series and started over again at the beginning while waiting for the fifth to be written.
Jim never enjoyed reading, except magazines and Uncle John's Bathroom Reader. Saturday, at the library he got a novel, Dearly Devoted Dexter (the books the show is based on) to read for himself!
He also found out that filling in the weekly "homework" chart makes him a bit crazy, so I do it.

I found out, everything doesn't have to be done my way in order for it to work out. Hard lesson to learn. And I'm not really sure I can say I've learned it, but and constantly learning it.

Meanwhile, Fletcher is happy with homeschooling. He doesn't ask to go to school like his cousins and some of his friends do. He proudly tells strangers who always seem to ask about school that his school is at home. And a surprising number of those strangers says, "you are so lucky."

So, a few pictures, with many more to come:

Last weeks field trip to the Morro Bay Nature Learning Center:
(who says homeschoolers don't know how to raise their hands, stand in line, or wait their turn!)

Fletch, sharing his tooth spacer with everyone.

enamored with the big boys.

Fletcher's own water experiment. Notice he donned a jacket, because the bucket doesn't always go fast enough to keep in the water in it!



The praying mantis we found on our window and took in for a day to study - thanks to our public library for the great books!

then we released him

I'm not sure Fletcher won't want to go to school-school some day. Maybe even tomorrow he'll change his mind. I hope not, but I'm keeping an open mind - so is Jim, and I think thats what matters most. We're all in this together.