I'd like to start off by saying that I never imagined myself as a homeschooling mom. I didn't even think I'd be a stay at home mom, even though I really wanted to be one. It wasn't until after #2 was born, and after a move that basically cut our income by less than half of what we were making, that we realized we could get by on 1 income. And so our story begins....
I always assumed my kids would go off to school like all of the other kids, like we did, like our parents did, and pretty much like everyone else I had ever known did. The only other type of schooling besides public school that I was aware of was private school and Montessori school (which I love), but both were out of our budget, especially with 2 kids. Madeline was 3 years old when my husband and I first started talking about homeschooling. My husband was more gung-ho about it than me, basically because I would be the one mainly in charge of our kid's education, and that thought freaked me out. All of a sudden I had visions of wearing ankle length, ill-fitting dark dresses, snapping a ruler on the kitchen table in front of our dusty kitchen chalkboard, all while reciting Bible verses to the ever-obedient children. What exactly is homeschooling? Could I really do this? Am I qualified? What about socialization? Would they grow up to be normal people capable of functioning in the 'real world'? Would I ever have time for myself with my kids ALWAYS around? I started obsessing about it.... checking books out from the library, googling homeschooling pros and cons, reading up on homeschooling blogs.... collecting any sort of unbiased information I could find to come to a decision. What I ended up finding out is how beneficial homeschooling can be, not only for the child, but for the entire family. My pros list was much longer than the cons list (and yes, I really did make a list). Fortunately for us, we live in a wonderful area for homeschooling. There is a lot of community support and 2 co-ops to choose from. Many communities don't even have 1 co-op. As soon as this new option became a serious consideration, it seemed homeschooling was everywhere I looked. Kind of like when you are thinking of getting a new car, and then you see that type of car all over the place.
This year, although Madeline is preK 4/5 age, we have been basically working on Kindergarten stuff. We thought this would be a perfect time to see how homeschooling works for our family. I figure, what do we have to lose? If it doesn't work out, she'll be off to Kindergarten in the fall of 2012 anyway. So far, we are having a blast and seeing that it is really a great fit for us at this time. Kindergarten registration for public school came and went, yet we were out playing at the park with friends instead.
I'm really looking forward to see what's to come in our homeschool. Not only is it exciting to aide in their learning and watching that little spark in their eyes when they finally understand or learn something new, but there are even a few facts I've picked up so far as well :) Little brother Travis enjoys "school time", too.
One article I read that seems imbedded in my mind is about how people don't know how to talk to kids whom are homeschooled. The most popular question asked to grade schoolers from adults is, "How is school?" Apparently, people feel weird about asking kids who don't go to school that question. I'm hoping to be able to keep up with this blog to let family members and friends see what's going on with the kids in a different way than facebook allows.
I hope you enjoy reading about our learning and life adventures!
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