Entrance Application to Homeschool?

I decided today that I am going to make my kids apply to attend our homeschool. Kind of crazy I know, but I think it might actually have a great affect. I think that sometimes they see homeschool as something that I have decided for them, may have been true in the beginning, even though I tell them that if they can convince me that they would do better in public school I will put them in. In the end they decide to homeschool. Although for one of my children I am not convinced that it isn't because s/he just doesn't want to put in the effort. Anyway, I think that if they are able to look at their options and "choose" homeschooling that they will own their choice more. I made a letter that will be mailed to them, prospective students, and outlined the benefits of attending our school, the expectations, and application requirements. Oh yeah, I went all out, logo, having it mailed to them, entrance interview, the works. I want them to know that they are a few of the privileged that get to learn in this kind of environment. Is it perfect? No, but I am working on it! If they choose not to apply and enroll once accepted then I'll have to come up with plan B. I think this is going to work, though. I am super excited!

Creating a Master Plan

Every year we have done things a little different. I have tried almost every way of homeschooling. Now I think that I finally know what I want for my homeschool. So begins the process of creating a master plan. I think that in order to be successful at creating the homeschool I want I need to be very deliberate in my efforts. I am glad that we have tried so many things and that I didn't spend a lot of time creating a master plan in the very beginning. It surely would have failed, because I had no way of knowing what would work for my family, for each child, for me. Things that looked great didn't work as I had planned and things that I didn't pay much attention to have become invaluable resources. Now that we have done plenty of experimenting I have a good idea of what "works." I have taken a little from everything that we have done. I believe that every method has its good, and it is for this reason that I can't fully commit to just one way of homeschooling. I am trying to take the things that I love from each and put them together to create a master plan that will guide us through our homeschooling experience. I feel that this is especially crucial as my children get older. We need to know where we are going and how we are going to get there so that we don't end up nowhere. I am super excited to undertake this task, it is really going to make me stretch. Ready, set, go...