A Look Inside and Missouri Laws

 I thought I would take a moment to show you the inside of the school house. It measures 11 x16 on the inside. Mike hates the color, but the boys and I wanted something bright. I am hoping the fake fireplace will give off enough heat to heat it during the winter months. I am also hoping that the end of August brings us some relief from the summer heat we are having. I do have an air conditioner I can steal from the chicken coop if needed (yes, very spoiled chickens - although we didn't turn it on this year).

I love the front porch. I have a small table I am going to put out there for the kids to work on messy art projects on or when the days are exceptionally nice we can head outside.

This is the view from the door walking in. It still needs some reorganization, but it is getting there.

This is Luca's side (where the activities for him to do are and his desk)

This is Nico's half - his desk and items

The view from the front looking back - note the comfy futon for cuddle time and reading

a blurry picture of half of the storage loft - you get the idea. I have a lot of stuff!

For lesson book planning this year I have found a website (www.planbookedu.com) that I can put the weekly schedule into and then print it out. It only cost $25/year. This is cheaper than buying 2 lesson planners and I can put it right into the computer adding links to the lesson plan. I can then pull up the plan during our school day on the laptop. I can also print them out and put in a binder. This not only keeps me on track with what we need to do, but also is a documentation for the state of Missouri for our hours.

Speaking of Missouri hours, this brings me to homeschooling laws. Each state has their own laws on homeschooling. Before you begin, you should research the state requirement for where you live. This link goes to the laws of Missouri.

http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=MO

We are required to have 1000 hours of instruction, with 600 of them being in the 5 core subjects (Reading, math, social studies, language arts, and science). 400 of the 600 hours have to occur 'at the regular homeschool location.' We have one calendar year to complete this. The parent is able to establish what constitutes the school year. We usually school year round July 1 - June 30. This year we did take off the summer.

I keep a portfolio of the boys work to show their progression. I am actually so bad I have kept everything of Nico's. I really need to take the time to go through it all and throw the unneeded things out and really keeping a good portfolio. I am also the type of person that likes tests. Nico is given a test and he has to pass with an 85% otherwise we go back over it again. In this way, we are not continuing on with him not knowing what was learned previously. There are no teacher qualifications or standardized testing required. We also do not have to let the state or school system know we are homeschooling. It is very easy to pull your child out of public or private school if you wish to homeschool.

I did a little research for my SIL who lives in Australia and was pleased to find a lot of information there too. Homeschooling is a world wide option. I love the freedom the state of Missouri gives us to homeschool our children. I love having my children home with me, bonding with them and not missing a single thing they do or say.

Stay tuned for the topic of socializing.