Get Set...

Mr. Wiedz and I have had the weekend to ourselves (well, with just #5 but he's so easy and quiet that you'd hardly notice) to get our house ready for school.

I haven't said much about it, just a sentence or two in the "about me" paragraph, but the Wiedz household is embarking on a homeschool adventure. There are a number of reasons, those are for another post.

I've been reading post after post about what I might need to get ready. School room? Dining room table? Schedules? Text books? Photocopy now or as we need through the year?

Mr. Wiedz and I decided to go with a create-our-own curriculum based on the classical education model as outlined in "The Well-Trained Mind" by Susan Wise-Bauer and Jessie Wise. I spent the early summer outlining and planning what books I'd need. I ordered materials at the end of July...oh, what fun it was to have package after package arrive! And Mr. Wiedz and I put this weekend on our calendars.

This weekend has been set aside as "School Prep Weekend 2010". Mr. Wiedz built some fantastic shelves from lumber we got from a mill in Kings Valley...that tree grew up in the same place we did, that makes me smile. The shelves are gorgeous! And hold SO much!

I got a lot of good information on the planning and preparations from Preschool and Peace (I found this blog on google...had to click with a title like that!). She talks in one of her posts about getting everything prepared during the summer. I know what my kids would do if we had to stop for me to get something or make something or photocopy something, I opted to stand at Kinkos for over an hour to avoid that. I spent Friday morning making 738 copies. And on Saturday afternoon I put them all away!

Organizing our school area was really fun! Mr. Wiedz helped me put items on the shelves and asked at one point where my pencil collection was. I ran out to get it! I spent much of my childhood collecting pencils all with the intention of being a teacher someday and having them in my classroom. I made it! I'm a teacher with my own "classroom"!

We're doing a "soft open" this week. Easing into things. Seeing where the holes are. Where we need to adjust our schedule or our expectations. I'll report how that goes.

The other day in my web-surfing if found a great article with a quote that has stuck with me...

"Instead, my kids “let it all hang out” and show me where I need to help them, guide them, pray for them."

Here's to "letting it all hang out" and grace for the journey.