More Homeschool Stuff.

When we first started homeschooling, I kind of felt kind of overwhelmed.  How would we teach them everything?  But over the years, I've come to a realization, we can't teach them everything they need.  (I mean, I didn't come out of high school with every skill set I'd ever need, did you?)  So I decided to focus our schooling on the 3Rs to make sure that they can do math and express themselves well.  The main courses we teach are language arts and math.  Then we add in things we are interested in having the kids learn and we follow the Kentucky guidelines for what they need to know, which are very general.  Then, when that is done, we can let the kids follow some of their interests.  My 2 older kids are learning guitar.  My daughter is doing sewing, macrame, beading/jewelry making and art.  My oldest son does traditional art, plus computer art and has taught himself to use Blender and Gimp and is now working on teaching himself Photoshop.  He's interested in the computer language Python.  My youngest is mostly interested in books and wants to either read or listen to them on audio all the time, but also likes to watch science and history DVDs and is very interested in broadening his vocabulary.  He loves to try new words out on me to see if I'm paying attention; words like complacent and enigmatic.  The kids also have been learning some skills like car repair, home repair and woodworking.  We also love enriching our school with 4H activities, field trips and getting together with our homeschool group.  We're having a valentine party today at a pizza restaurant.  Is it any wonder we love homeschooling?