It's official, we are deliberately homeschooling!

The more we tell people that we will homeschool, it seems, the more we convince ourselves - that is the path we want to go.

It also doesn't seem so hard for us to decide on this because we were actually unofficially homeschooling already. That effort was a bit short lived because mama had to go back to work. And papa, well, he tried. It was at the moment when Ant needed more than just instant play with what was available around. Papa had to be a bit more creative in finding those teachable moments in expanding or building on Ant's interest. So that succeeding school year we decided to enroll her in a very good school. And we love that school and their teachers.

I would highly recommended it for those living near the area. It is literally a playground. Play areas include a little sofa with books to choose from, pretend play corners, play dough tables, math manipulatives, etc. The kids sang songs with the teachers and learned thru play. I found the teachers very nurturing. Student teacher ratio was good at 1 lead teacher with 2 other teachers and 12 toddlers in class. The only thing lacking for us was that they are not a Catholic school. Although very Christian I would say. I loved their school Christmas play called One Way. Ant played/danced the role of a lamb. That's one of the things I will miss. I wonder if we will eventually have a chance for these kinds of productions while homeschooling - then I ask myself what learning can Ant draw from it. She can always join a drama workshop like my friend's Helen O Grady when she is older.

The school also had costume days which Ant and I loved. I loved preparing for it. One was to dress us your favorite Scholastic Book character after they had a week of the Scholastic Book sale in school. She dressed as Emily Elizabeth with her dog Clifford. Another was near Halloween and she dressed as a fairy. And for the last school day was a Mad Hatter's tea party. All book based except for Halloween of course. For the Mad Hatter's tea party she wore the Halloween costume which won her the 1 year scholarship with Kindermusik and Big Strides.

So that leads me to the added practical reason why we will homeschool. Every week we will have 1 day of Kindermusik and 1 day of Big Strides (I have to choose 1 class). That qualifies for me to have some away time from her and perhaps some "me" time. And best part is that it's for free! Helps on the budget.

Another reason is the budget. We are very tight and if we cough up the payment needed by the school that we love, that would mean taking on another loan and incurring interest. So we don't really want that stress looming on our heads. We already have loans. Our financial situation changed ever since we realized our eldest has special needs.

The best option would then be to homeschool. I didn't want the budget to be the primary reason why we would homeschool. It did become the final push though. We still had to review why we really want to homeschool. One reason is I missed Ant. During the last few weeks of school I got to drive the kids to and from school twice a week. It felt like a chore at first until I found myself entertained in every car ride. I'm going to miss those. I missed so much of her growing up too. And she's growing up fast.

We'll mind map our reasons for homeschooling soon.

However, the real truth we we decided is because God is clearly directing us this way.