The following is a guest post by Katie Fox.

It’s January 28, which means that I’m in the thick of my annual agony regarding my children’s education. Every year, for the past three years and counting, I face two deadlines in late January: the deadline to re-apply for financial aid at our current private school (which we LOVE), and the deadline to apply for a public school transfer (because we need a back-up plan).

Because what if we don’t get enough financial aid at our current private school? Or what if we decide that we can’t commit to the commute anymore? (Yes, we are currently That Crazy Family that drives their child across the city for a better education. At least I know we’re crazy, right?)

It doesn’t stop there. I need more back-up plans. What if we don’t get chosen in the public school transfer lottery?

So, next week I’ll be attending an info meeting for a charter school near our home. And I just signed up to join the email list for a new university model school that is opening in the fall. And I’ve been researching homeschool curriculum. And…and…and…someone save me from this madness!
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A few of you have asked how our afterschooling was going. Specifically, some of you were wondering how crazy I’d be to expect my kiddo to get excited about doing more school after a full day in the classroom. I don’t blame you.

If you’re wondering, afterschooling is just what it sounds like: school, after school. Basically, it’s a good compromise for families who don’t feel led to do straight-up homeschooling, but still want to do a bit of stuff after your kids are back home. I jokingly call it “Homeschool Lite.”

The short answer as to how it’s going: yes, it’s taken a bit to get our groove back into this, and yes, during the first week of school I thought this was a crazy idea. But now that we’re finding our fall routine, it’s going well, for two main reasons.

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The following is a guest post from Jessica Howard of Quirky Bookworm.

I’ve always been a bookworm. I think reading is good for the brain, the imagination, and the soul. The possibility that I could raise a kid that doesn’t like to read is bizarre. But, there’s always that chance, so I purposely try to encourage Eleanor to love reading.

Here are my seven tips for creating a love of reading in your kids.

1. Read a lot.

At a minimum we read for 20 minutes daily. That’s about a dozen board books, or 5-8 picture books. Sometimes we read four times that many books; but I can guarantee that even on the busiest days we find those minutes before bed.
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Written by contributor Megan Tietz of SortaCrunchy.

Earlier this month, our family reached a new milestone: both of our daughters are now in public school – all day, every day.

This has been a bittersweet transition for us, but it has been made easier by the fact that both of my children genuinely love school and are endlessly enthusiastic about learning. As a former public school teacher, I know that raising children who love to learn doesn’t happen by accident.

It is an unfortunate stereotype of the public school parent that we have chosen this approach to schooling by default or because we are lazy and want to leave the education of our children to the paid professionals. The reasons for a child to be in public schools are as diverse as a public school classroom itself, and most public school parents I know want to support our children’s learning in any way we can.

Many families do all that we can to foster and nurture learning in the earliest years of a child’s life, as well we should. But when our children begin spending their days in the classroom, we aren’t off the hook! Continuing to build a home where learning is nurtured and valued is one of the best ways we can equip our children for life after graduation.
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Today I’m sharing my post from this week at Simple Homeschool, where I pull back the curtain on our school plan for next year: afterschooling. What the heck is it, anyway? From the post:

“It’s almost silly that this even needs a name, in many ways, but afterschooling is simply homeschool, after school. It can look a lot of ways, just like homeschooling. I’ve jokingly come to call it Homeschool Lite.

Increasing in popularity, many families choose to do afterschooling in order to go deeper in an area a student’s school isn’t able, to cover a topic that’s completely ignored at school, or to foster more interest-led learning. I learned a great deal about afterschooling at Teaching My Baby to Read, and the Well Trained Mind forums also has a forum just for afterschooling.

As we considered the possibility of afterschooling, one of our highest criteria was finding a school with a low homework policy. After all, kids need tons of play (where some of the best learning happens!), and I have no intention of bogging down our kids with more than is necessary.

We’re going to try it out this next year, and if it ends up being too much, we’ll slow down. We might even shelve the idea for awhile and pick it back up later. Or we may stop doing the private school and return to only homeschooling.”

Head here to read our plan and to share your thoughts.