Preparation

A few months ago we have finally decided to homeschool the kids. Our first intention was to school our son and send our daughter to Grade 1 in Public school. But my daughter who loved being home before Grade R and loved doing "school work" or "homework" as she called it, begged me to also stay home and Homeschool her.  So, after a few weeks of toying with the idea and trying to wrap my head around schooling two kids of different ages at one time, we decided it to be a good thing.

And so our journey began. Firstly we applied at the Pestalozzi Trust, then, we notified the shuttle service that the kids would not be riding with them next year, followed by letting the school know my kids will not be attending. Nerve wrecking as thát was, we were surprised that there was not any opposition to our decision. 
I joined a Facebook group of Homeschoolers from my Provence, as well as a few Yahoo groups. In between all of that I exhaustively researched curriculum - one in particular - and read up on homeschooling. When me made our final decision on our curriculum I spend ours behind the computer and on the phone to compile it.
I've watched a seminar on DVD, and now I am not only reading books on learning styles, I'm also studying the guide to the curriculum we chose.
Some nights I'm up until after twelve reading up and studying and making plans.
We are also making space in our study for (a lot) more books and trying to get things more organized. (I  also cannot wait until we have some aircon in there, just to be able to breathe in summer!)

Of course I'm not all confident. Everyday someone say something, or the kids does something or I just find myself doubting my abilities not only to teach, but to parent or be a good wife or a friend.
However, I do believe that preparation will help with the transition from stay at home mother to homeshooling mother. Of course, time will only tell how I will fare. I'm sure I'll learn a lot more in the process of doing than I would from any book or on any social network.

What is left to do? A lot more reading, and then the big wait for box day..... Hmmm, patience, they say, is a virtue :)