Homeschooling

We decided to homeschool the kids next year. In my mind I keep thinking "breath, just breath... it's going to be okay." It's been an interesting decision and I thought I would talk about it for a sec. I know there can be a lot of strong feelings about homeschooling so I'll explain why it's for us.

We've been thinking about it since September or so and I'm quite sure the Lord has been slowly leading my by the hand into making this decision. Back in the long ago days before I had children or was even married I had thought about homeschooling since I didn't have a high opinion of my own experience in secondary education. I don't remember everything now, but I do remember that I only had one good math teacher from junior high on and felt like I had to teach myself math, I remember guidance counselors that were awful at giving guidance, I remember being told I was only an average reader and then stepping up and putting myself in AP English and getting a 4 out 5 on the test (a very good score), I remember bullies in junior high, etc etc. Interestingly enough, Jon feels this way too but that's a story he can tell another time if he wants feels like it. When I had my first three kids so close together I was so overwhelmed with things that a lot of my super ideas went out the window as I tried to just survive the day to day in the trenches of motherhood. I knew two things for sure though- one was that I still wanted a better education for my kids perhaps at a charter school or a private school and two that I had these nagging worries in the back of my head about what in the world to do when they got to junior high which was a terrible experience for me all the way around.

So I got my kids into the local charter school- yeah! But lately I've been feeling that the charter school is something good, but is there something even better? I used to think that homeschooling moms were geeks with weird kids (no offense to anyone), but come to find out that isn't true. I've met some pretty cool people lately that homeschool locally and there is a little bit of everything just like every where else. The more I researched the more I realized that there is no reason not to homeschool. Homeschooled kids generally test in the 80-90th percentile while the public school kids are in the 50 percentile. Most people, even people high up in government will admit that there is something wrong with the educational system in the America, though why they think that is a huge debate for another time. I feel drawn to being able to teach my kids more and add in our family values and I feel empowered as a parent by the many resources and studies that show I can do it- I can teach my kids and do well at it.

As we've considered this next adventure I've started to see my kids in a new light.

Jacob is bright and intelligent but is willing to settle for whatever is given to him. He doesn't get a challenge from school right now, but he needs one because he is capable of doing so much more. He needs to excel in something and know that he is smart so he can gain confidence.

Samuel is very bright. He could do Jacob's school work right now and be just fine. He was always ahead, is a sponge that can soak in knowledge and has this incredible retention of what he learns. While Jacob settles for what he is being taught in school, Sam finds it incredibly boring and fights me everyday when it comes time to do his homework. Not because he can't do his homework, because it takes him 10 minutes once he sits down and does it, but because it bores him. He needs to go on or I'm afraid he's going to lose interest all together, but, don't you know it, there is a district policy in our district that says a child is not allowed to advance past their peers or stop going to school even if they know all the curriculum already. Lovely, he's not allowed a challenge either. On the bright side, Sam is a very social creature and that is what he gets out of school right now. He makes friends easily and loves helping the other kids and teacher out. I know that I need to make sure he has a social environment while homeschooling him and have found many local classes (theater, dance, karate, puppetry, music, etc), homeschooling groups, and sport activities that he can participate in to get that.

Katie. Ah, my sweet little girl. We've actually pulled her out of preschool and started homeschooling her already. She is so intelligent but needs to be worked with one on one to keep her motivated. We pulled her from preschool because we didn't feel it was doing anything for her and we had some concerns with her coming home and telling us "I'm not pretty like the other girls in my class" (what do you mean you don't think you are pretty? You are 4! Who's telling my daughter this?). Since we've pulled her out we've watched her confidence and personality start to come back and shine. In two weeks we've been able to teach her to write all her letters, know their sounds and start putting them together, and have started to teach her counting to 100. It's amazing how she picks it up and I love being with her and being the one who teaches her. It makes me feel good though I'll also admit it has been hard sometimes and some days feel like a battle instead of the nice pleasant picture I had in my head. The nice picture is there though at other times and it's been worth it. My favorite is when she told me that she remembers to write i's because they are lines with eyeballs on top.

So that's a little bit about what is going through our heads with this. We're excited about this opportunity for our kids and to give them something more. We've been talking to them about what they want from the experience and have found out that Sam wants the chance to be a special day leader and help pass out the work and projects, Jacob wants to create a reward system and already has ideas on how to make the rewards himself and how to run it, and Katie wants a pink school bus but since that is not going to happen she's agreed to call our van the magic school bus when we go on field trips and is content.