Back to Homeschool Blog Hop - Coming Soon!

I've noticed some Back to School sales and ads already.  I've noticed that the whole back to school hype generally gets a less than enthusiastic reaction from the kids - they're enjoying their summer vacation and don't want to think about going back to school.  For parents, it usually means some stress, because they get these supply lists from the school and they have to hunt down all the stuff on the list (which usually costs a small fortune), and those school supply aisles in the StuffMarts are jammed full of frazzled moms and their kids.  At the same time, some of those parents are expressing how glad they will be to get their little darlings out of their hair and off to school again.  What a strange ritual.

But for homeschooling families....  it's a little different.  The kids aren't always happy to be going back to a full-time school schedule, of course.  But homeschool moms love talking about curriculum and their plans, and a lot of us get positively giddy about buying new notebooks and staplers and little gadgets like that.  But we can make our own supply lists, and we don't necessarily need to buy all those things at the same time as everybody else in our school district.  ;-)

For new homeschoolers, there is a still a lot of uncertainty mixed in with their excitement in getting started.  What curriculum should I use? How much time should my child be spending working on school?  Do I need to give grades? What if I don't have room in my home for a dedicated classroom area?  What about the subjects I don't understand myself? Should I join a co-op? And the questions go on and on.

And the veterans - whether veterans with one year under their belt, or a dozen! - just like to talk shop!

Many of the bloggers from the Schoolhouse Review Crew will be taking on these subjects in our Back to Homeschool Blog Hop next week.  I'm looking forward to it!  There will be homeschoolers who use different methods and have students of all ages, homeschoolers who have been at this for many years and those who are still quite new to the experience, detail-oriented planners and those who prefer to fly by the seat of our pants, families with their own in-home classroom and those that do school just wherever, and lots of approaches to curriculum.  Homeschoolers LOVE to talk about curriculum, especially the Review Crew - that's why we do the reviews!

Be sure to check the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog page each day and hop along with us!  Whether you're a veteran homeschooler, a new homeschooler, or just thinking about it for the future!