Michael, Kindergarten and Me

I decided to put Michael into Venture Academy which is less than 3 miles away. It is a Charter School and the only program they offer for Kindergarten is called Synergy. It is an ALL home school program that offers on-site classes 2 days a week. So I am responsible for all lessons and bringing him to school as well.

On Tuesdays he starts school at 9:40am for phonics, then science and then playground time. On Thursdays we start at 8:00am with Wood shop or Rock Climbing (depending on the week) and then more phonics and exercise class. Then we have a Parent/Child Workshop which is just doing different things together. Once a month we will have a Field Trip and one week out of the month is called "Check In" week where there are no on site classes but we have a meeting with the Teacher to turn in our work for the past month. Also he has Dance class every Monday morning at 8:00 am.
All in all the schedule confuses me. Even if we do get into a routine with the Home school lessons, then Check In week will come around and throw us off. I'm not going to back out because I have already started and I love the Teacher and the kids in Michael's class. He is such a lovable kid and makes friends very easily.

Because it is kindergarten and it is a big school they want us to stay with them the whole time. Also some of the classes (mostly rock climbing and wood shop) require a parent there to help their kindergartner. I am very lucky to have people at home that are willing and available for babysitting Vivian and Theodore while I am off at school with Michael. During Phonics we have to sit outside the classroom because it's not big enough. Most of us sit in the Lobby of the school which is just down the hallway and we can see when they are about to go on their walk to the bathroom. I use this time to read or talk with other parents. But for all the other classes we are supposed to be in the room with them (of course those are the classes that need our help so they better have room for us.)

Traditional Public school was not an option for me. This may sound stuck up but I still want to control who my child knows. Not that I completely shelter him from the world. If there are kids playing at a park that I don't like it's not that I pack up and leave or anything. But for something as regular as school I didn't want him associating with who knows who from who knows what kind of family. I know several families from church that attend Venture Academy and they all say that the parents are great.

They kind of have to be to go there because a Charter School is all about parent involvement. If you put your child in there you have to be willing and able to put in time with your kids to do homework or lessons. Which means if they are willing and able to put time into their children they are probably good strong families with some sort of value system. The parents I have met so far have all been great! The kindergarten class has 19 students but not all of them come to on-site classes. A few are strictly home school and might show up for Field Trips and such. Which means the class size is nice and small with an average of 11 kids showing up each time.

Like I said, I love the program (despite it's crazy schedule) and I will not back out but I do have a confession:

Anyone that knows me knows it is hard for me to put time and effort into my children. Part of my desire to do this (Home school) was to force me into it. So far I have failed miserably. I am awesome at bringing him to on-site activities (whoop-de-do that's the easy part) but when it comes to the lessons at home I have yet to develop a routine. I know it's something that doesn't necessarily require a routine but the way me and Michael work is best under routine. He thrives on them and it provides me with some sort of discipline so that I can't excuse it if I'm not feeling well or if I want to put priority on my projects over school.

However I have given myself this road block that I haven't been able to get over. John and I like to call it "sharpening our pencils." We both feel like we have to have a certain amount of preparation before we can begin certain things.

I have told myself that before I can get into a routine with Michael's School I need to have my office/craft room and my front room organized. The front room is what I am using as a school room. I have posters up and all sorts of stuff. I have room to put learning games and I even have some of the bookshelves for all the kids books so he can have a reading center. I have a lot of plans for school but I can't get to any of it.

Before I can access it all easily I need to get several boxes of random stuff sorted and put away. This includes 2 huge tubs plus a few boxes and smaller tubs of random papers to sort. Something we have ignored for the past 3 years which is why our collection has grown so big. It's one of those things that is so overwhelming that you don't know where to start.

I have told myself I am going to start it... TODAY!!! If I make a big mess then I will have all weekend to clean it up. I have to do it so it might as well be now right? Wish me luck and hopefully I will have good news to report next week.

PS. The pictures were of August 16th when we were heading to the Kindergarten Orientation. Michael was bored the whole time but it was still technically the first day of school and my only real opportunity to take first day of school pictures. I also took a video where he told me what was in his back pack and what he would be doing at school. He counted to 50 or so and sang the alphabet song then we shape searched for a minute and talked about colors and how his back pack and his shoes were camouflage. It was a cute video but it wouldn't upload for some reason.