They Call the Wind Mariah

April 29, 2004 : 8:42 a.m.
Keeping Up With The Who?

Go Mariah, it's your birthday! GO Mariah, it's your birthday!

I don't FEEL 27. That's a good thing, I suppose. :)

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So homeschooling.

I'm super excited. M seems to be, too.

I am already planning field trips, unit studies, printing worksheets, turning the playroom into a semi-'school' room to hold all of our homeschooling stuff, etc.

I have decided on the unit-study approach, I think. I am buying some curriculum and workbooks to follow along as well, but I really like the idea of learning based on studying subjects that M is interested in. I just need to figure out how I can work it all together, the curriculum and the unit studies.

There are quite a few people out there who have actually asked me if I have to buy the state's curriculum. This must be a big assumption people have. But, as far as the state of Indiana goes, I don't have to do anything but keep attendance records. They basically let homeschoolers do whatever they feel is best. There's no standardized testing she has to go through, no people dropping in to make sure she is "keeping up". Although the first year at least, I'm sure I will test her sporradically to see where she stands academically. That is a bit taboo to some homeschoolers. But this will be my first year, for crying out loud. I'm nervous. I want to make sure I'm doing right by her. I want to make sure she is learning the things she needs to know, and that I'm not screwing her life up forever by missing something I should have taught her. I know that most likely that would not happen, but you know...I'm a worrier. If you don't know that about me, by now, what do you know?

Maybe someday, doing this, I will be able to let go of the idea of "keeping up with the Joneses", and just embrace the idea of being who we already are, doing what we already know is right for us. I have taken the first step.