Me and My Boys: Kindergarten-Week Five!

I got a letter awhile back from our school district about an informational parent/guardian meeting they were hosting for homeschooling parents. Even though the meeting was optional, there was no way I was going to miss it. An rsvp wasn't necessary for the meeting so when a scheduling conflict forced them to change the date, they realized they couldn't contact every one who had planned to attend because they didn't know who was attending! The home school coordinator came in expecting a few parents to still show up on the original date. I was one of the few. I was the only few. ;) I thought it worked out rather nicely. It was great having that one-on-one time to get all my questions answered and he said it was easier on him because he only had to cover the information that applied to kindergarten. Surprisingly, I came away from the meeting much more relaxed than when I went in! He reiterated several times that "You are running this show. You're in charge, we're just here for accountability." My biggest concern was the portfolio reviews. Which he described as "like a parent-teacher conference except you're in charge of the meeting." He also said that if you are a genuine home schooler there is pretty much no way they are going to find deficiencies in your program. They really only have problems with that in cases of truancy. I now know that I don't have to follow the district's schedule and we can actually finish up our year later in the summer if we want. Which is great because I've been able to really scale back. We are still covering all the curriculum, we're just taking more time to do it. One of the biggest benefits is not having to cram in our own lessons before he goes to nature school two days a week. It's also freed up more time for important things like board games and bug hunts. I think C and I are both happier with the new schedule. :) Now for a few pictures from week five!

Art project: Fall leaf prints!