1st Day of School!

After months of indecision about where to send the kids for school this year (at one point we had them enrolled at different schools on different ends of town) we heard about a home school-charter school option that was opening up this fall ended and up deciding to pull Corbin out of his PAL program and Makelle out of the planned charter school and try this bridge option.  So for their Kindergarten and 2nd grade year Makelle and Corbin are going to do home school for all their core subjects and then on Wednesdays they get to go down to Farmington and take a bunch of fun electives and be with friends.  Makelle is taking a science class, Lego robotics, animal encounters, dance and PE.  Corbin is taking the advanced Lego robotics, building and engineering and science classes (for 3rd-6th graders) and then animal encounters and PE with his age group (K-2nd grade) so he and Makelle have a couple of classes together.

After I picked them up I asked them about their day and Corbin spouted off the names of a few kids he played with or sat by and Makelle said she didn't talk once the whole day, other than when they asked her her name at the start of the day.  They have polar opposite personalities when it comes to making friends.  Makelle even told me once, "Corbin likes the crazy kids and I just like the nice girls."  I asked her if she was lonely or if she had someone to play with during recess and lunch and she just told me she sat by Corbin and played with him and his friends.  She is so sweet and shy and he is so patient and kind.  I can't believe he lets her hang out with him all the time, they are always so thoughtful of each other.  I want them to maintain that close relationship as long as possible while also carving their own paths in the world.  

As time has continued since that first day Makelle has started to become more comfortable with the kids there and made a few little girl friends of her own, but I love that they are willing to love and support each other and be kind to one another in those times of concern.

The school also provides some school materials and I have enjoyed being able to hand select everything that I want them to learn this year and to set goals and explore their interests with them.  I am really looking forward to teaching them and being with them this next year.

I chose what subjects I wanted to cover and which companies to purchase from and then let them choose the focused topic to study.  So for history we are going to cover ancient civilizations.  In geography we are going to cover a different country each week in our unit studies.  In science we are going to learn about astronomy the first semester and chemistry the second semester.  And Corbin has decided to take a course on beginning web design and computer programming that he is pretty excited about.

We are also pretty excited about the field trip opportunities to explore museums and locations around us.  Right now the plan is to go on an outing at least every other week as well as spend lots of time at the library and getting together with cousins and friends to compensate for the disappointment Corbin has expressed over not being able to see his friends from last year on a regular basis.

For now the plan is to stick with for this year and reevaluate and plan for next year when the time comes, so we'll have to see what the future brings.