Home School 2017/18

For the 2017/18 school year and after very careful consideration, Craig and I have decided to home school Ella as a third grader.  Our school year started officially on July 10 and we are so excited to have logged over 60 hours of instruction already - 900 are required by the State of Ohio for any given school year.  Ella will be working with both Craig and me as well as with a certified intervention specialist who will come to our home for four to six hours a week.  Our beloved Ms. Rie, who is a Montessori certified educator, will take Ella on field trips at least twice a month.

We work daily on math, spelling, writing, reading and PE.  We work in units for art, music, science and social studies.  We have already completed our social studies unit on the Pledge of Allegiance and are now focusing on science with patterns in the sky and the solar system, culminating on August 21 with the solar eclipse.  Health and safety are easy and enjoyable to teach at home - Ella made banana bread for her first lesson in this content area.

Ella working on her spelling

So far, the flexibility of home school is wonderful as we have already had two field trips, can easily incorporate neurological re-organization therapy into our day, and can tailor our lessons to Ella's academic strengths and weaknesses as well as to real life happenings, such as the solar eclipse.  Home school allows us to meet Ella's sensory, social and emotional needs, minimize distractions, work at just the right pace, and give Ella time to continue bonding and attaching.

Wish us luck as we venture down this road for the first time and feel free to let me know of any great resources you might come across for our third grade home schooler.