Homeschooling and Potty Training

We have decided to homeschool Bethie for a variety of reasons, the main one being that we feel very strongly that there is too much standardized testing and not enough learning in the local schools.  There are several tests each year, and for 2 - 4 weeks before EACH test, learning stops to review for the test.  That, to me, is not education.  After careful consideration and research over the last several months, we made the choice to homeschool and chose a curriculum.  We'll be using Sonlight, which is a Christian, literature-based curriculum, although I plan to tailor it more to be a Catholic curriculum. 

We bought the preschool curriculum and are working through that.  It is mainly reading right now, so we read lots of stories and then do activities and crafts, not a lot different from what we were already doing.  We've also joined a local homeschooling group that meets several times a month, which Bethie enjoys, and next week she will have her first gymnastics class!  I've also signed her up for a combination ballet and tap class that starts this fall, because I didn't want to overwhelm her with too much all at once. 

Other than that, we're just enjoying our house, our yard, and our weekends!  We took Bethie to see her first movie yesterday, and in case she wasn't able to make it through the whole thing we chose to see a showing of Toy Story 3 instead of something new.  Before it started she said, "This is going to be AWESOME!"  We bought a medium-sized popcorn to share, and darned if she didn't finish the whole bag and ask for more.  We got more, of course, and it was indeed awesome. 

We're heading to Fossil Rim in a few weeks, which is an animal sanctuary that you can drive through and feed the animals.  I cannot wait to go!  We're spending an entire week in the area, and are looking forward to a dinosaur park as well.

I was looking at this independent, bright, creative little girl the other day, and it hit me that I did it: I raised her from that tiny, helpless little baby into this beautiful little person.  I spent her first two years in a constant state of panic, sure that I would make a decision that would lead her to some terrible fate, and now I can relax and just enjoy my sweet little girl. 

Oh!  She has also potty trained herself!  After months of struggling, I stopped forcing the issue.  I didn't like that it felt like a battleground around here, so I backed off.  That was a few months ago, and about two weeks ago, she decided she wanted to wear her "big girl panties", and that was it.  Now she wears a Pull-Up if she's sleeping or if we're going to be out for a long time, and life is beautiful!

This is the first time she wrote her name:

Bethie and I:

My little tomboy is now all about pretty dresses!