Home Schooled

This past March our family made a challenging decision.  After a great deal of prayer and contemplation, we decided that Talia should be home schooled.  Not homeschooled by me; she switched schools from Emerson to Wasatch Elementary, our neighborhood or home school.  Within walking distance of our house, Wasatch is known for its emphasis on the arts that meshes beautifully with Talia's creative side.  More than that, her beloved fourth grade teacher from Emerson, Ms. Findley-Andersen, was now teaching fifth grade at Wasatch.  While Talia was doing fine at Emerson, I just couldn't shake the feeling that she would thrive at our home school.  All in all, I think it was a great choice.  Despite switching schools in the middle of the year, the transition was seamless.  Wasatch welcomed Talia with open arms and seems delighted to have her as part of their school community.  Here she is dressed up as Hermione during one of their character days.

She made this diorama to go along with it.

Talia walked herself to school early every morning so that she could volunteer as a library aide, leaving just as Annika and I left for preschool.  I think that's where she got some great ideas about book folding. Her school let out just a few minutes before Eli's bus arrived at Wasatch, so they usually walked home together.  Lovely.

Here's Talia showing off her work at the Wasatch Arts Fair.

They let her display the fish she'd made at Emerson.

Speaking of Emerson, their Arts Festival was fantastic as well.  Here's Eli with his cute little owl.

Some more of his work.

Last but not least, Geologist Eli presenting everything he learned about rocks this year.

The only downside about having Talia at Wasatch (and it's a huge one) is that they don't offer a dual language program.  Talia has been learning in Spanish for half the day for nearly six years, so we hate to give it up.  She's made some amazing progress, and really wants to keep going.  If anyone has suggestions about resources we might look into to help her continue, let me know.  She's pretty self-motivated, but I think we need to find a solid curriculum, website, or tutoring program for her to follow.

By the end of last year, we had four children in four different schools: Pre-K at Washington, 2nd at Emerson, 5th at Wasatch, and 7th at West.  Wish I could foresee what next year will bring.