I have discovered that if I am going to update my blog regularly, I'm going to have to really change my habits! I spend so much time reading everyone else's blogs and gathering new ideas, that I am neglecting my own.

I am currently working on plans for our next school year - I know it's only March, I'm a little compulsive. And I love to buy books. :) When we began homeschooling in the fall, we decided to take one year at a time, to ensure we were making the best educational choices for the girls each year. The main reason we decided to homeschool was because Leah was just way ahead of the regular kindergarten curriculum. I don't think I can expect a teacher with 20 other students to come up with completely different activities daily to keep Leah challenged, and there are no gifted education programs in Ann Arbor. At home we have been able to move at Leah's pace, including 2nd grade spelling and math, and reading everything she can get her hands on. Of course now we're faced with the fact that she's even farther ahead and if we ever decide to put her back in public school, we would probably have to accelerate her greatly. And now Kayla, who's talents I though might lie in jumping off tall things or anything involving a ball, is following in Leah's footsteps. She'll be three in May, but she already knows all of her letter sounds and she started sounding out words this week. She picks up more than I know when she's playing in the background during school. I can barely keep up with these girls!

Anyway, I'll be attending this conference in a few weeks, I'm going to try not to go broke in the Vendor Hall! Seriously, I think listening to the creators of many of the curricula and seeing them in person will help a great deal in deciding what is best for us. I'm especially excited to hear from Susan Wise Bauer, the author of The Well Trained Mind. This is the book that really inspired me to actually start homschooling. When I read her book, I thought, "Wow! This is the education I wish I could have had." Oh, and did I mention that I'm going all by myself, while Ed takes care of the girls at home?! This will be the first time I've been away from them for more than 36 hours since Leah was born. Five hours alone in a car to listen to a good audiobook, sleeping all night with no interruptions, sleeping past 7:30am!

We are also considering Classical Conversations next year. What the kids learn in 24 weeks is amazing! Anyone out there have thoughts about this program?