Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Kindergarten here we COME!!

Cyler will be six years old next month.   This is the age where you "MUST" enroll your child in school or submit an intent to home school here in FL.  We knew we didn't want Cyler in public school here in FL so we decided to pursue homeschooling.  And we decided to wait until he was six to start "formal" education because we simply wanted him to be a little kid a while longer.  We haven't slacked...we just haven't PUSHED.   

He learns everyday and he is quite smart. We hear all the time how smart other parents children are. We are told how they can tie their shoes, count to 1000, and write entire essays by the time they are in Kindergarten. That is wonderful!  Cyler can't tie his shoes yet and can only write his name, but that is ok.  He puts on his canvas slip-ons and goes about his day. Every day is an adventure for him.  He creates, imagines, explores, and understands his environment.  He has a thought process that is deeper and more complicated than many adults I have met.   You can't get my with a "because I said so" with him.  He must understand every detail of something before he is satisfied.  

We have been trying to find the right curriculum for him for 2 years now.  We wanted something above and beyond what he would learn in public school beyond the "common core".  A curriculum that well rounded, secular, and strong.  We researched many and really liked Calvert.  However, it was way to expensive.  We have tried to piece it together but we aren't confident that it would be good enough.  The public school was of course trying to get us to sign up with their k12.   If we signed up for that they would still get the tax money for Cyler being enrolled and we would have to do all the work with THEIR curriculum.   UGH!

However, just found out by searching (no one wanted to tell us) that the public school system will pay for Cyler to use Calvert at home as long as we follow their calendar year, etc.  Basically, the school district will still get the tax money because they can claim that he is enrolled in school but we get the Calvert curriculum for FREE!   For us this is a BIG WIN!   It's about the quality of the education.