Our homeschool plans for the up-coming school year are very different from our usual course of business, add in an unexpected program...and things are kind of topsy-turvy in my head right now.
But,
rock on....rock on...
First, Meg's run with a home-based charter school program has ended. We will either be homeschooling her under the private option here in California, or hopefully join an umbrella school (now called psp's in Ca). We have contemplated this change for a year or two now, the big factor is Meg's need of more interaction with other teens. She's feeling a little isolated, and she has always loved to be social. This psp group will have a few classes she can attend, and some social opportunities, they even have a yearbook, prom and graduation ceremonies. She is very excited.
The deciding factor was our charter school's push (for High School) to move towards text-book/online syllabus type schooling to satisfy the No Child Left Behind- 'qualified teacher' mandate. I looked over the programs they were recommending, and frankly I was not impressed...besides being dull, I saw no 'qualified teacher' involvement beyond possibly the creation of a syllabus to follow.
Dull, insipid, un-inspiring...not what learning could or should be all about. Frankly, the course of study we are planning for Meg is so much more interesting..and really a higher level of learning than what they were requiring.
So, things are being shaken up a bit, I will be taking Meg to classes possibly on two different days a week... we are hoping to sign her up for Spanish, Science and yearbook classes.
But wait! - let's shake things up a little more...
a few weeks ago I received an email about a Classical group 'community' forming in our area. I've heard of this group, but didn't really know anything about it, how it is run, how it functions...beside just the impression that it is expensive. So, I looked it up- and wow! How did I ever homeschool without a group like this!
Actually, I know how...the answer is: it probably wasn't the season for me before. Had this email reached me 5 or 2 years ago, or even last year, my reaction/impressions would have likely been different. I guess I am just at a place now where I could welcome this level of work/interaction...taking us out of our cozy home atmosphere more...
So,- I do some research and really like what I am seeing...but yikes! It is pretty costly, specially when you are talking 3 kids! (I'm not going to mention the name of the group yet, I'm not sure if I want to be searchable on this subject yet...but I am sure you can guess from my descriptions,)
I'll give you a brief breakdown so you get the idea... it's $312 per kid(for 3 kids) for two semesters, this is for the lowest level they have, add in another $312 for Josie so she can attend the afternoon session for older kids. To keep the shock factor down...they separate costs, so they also ask for a $50 registration fee per kid and $50 supply fee per kid and $35 facility fee per kid.
Okay, the extra shocker was that Sky did not faint when I added these all up! He was actually really impressed with this program. It's not totally out of the world when you divide the cost out by weeks...but the kicker is that the program asks for all of this upfront, all at once. I can understand, since homeschoolers can be notoriously fickle and flaky and of course people esteem and darn well make sure to attend- classes they pay dearly for.
Problem is....we don't have it! We already budgeted out expenses for this fall, which were unusually big, now that Meg is out of the charter, and attending a new program with new expenses. Did I mention she needs a new violin? It never rains but it pours...
I wanted to join this community so badly, I signed on as a teacher to help pay for our kids to attend.
I am really excited, I think it will be a really good year. You can see now why I didn't want this post to be easily searchable by keyword...
do they find out now or later that Bridget Jones is teaching their children?