Homeschool

First Day of Homeschool

7-7-14

My son had a wonderful experience in Kindergarten.  Great school, fantastic teacher, he excelled at math and reading, met new friends, and had lots of fun.  So, how come we decided to homeschool?

Several reasons, really.  But they could all probably fall under one large category...balance.  He would leave for school at about 7:30 in the morning, and wouldn't get back home until about 3:00 in the afternoon.  Which makes for a huge day for a 5 year old (who just turned 6 a few days ago!).  Then we would have a snack and a break before starting on the 30-60 minutes of homework he had each night.  He had to attend Saturday school on several occasions as well, in order to make up absences from when he was sick.

Our lives revolved around school.  He was exhausted from his demanding days.  My daughter was exhausted because her naptime was always interrupted with needing to go pick up her brother.  I was exhausted from waking up early every morning and dealing with children who were grumpy and crabby exhausted.  There was no balance.  It was all about school.  And that just seemed all wrong to me.

My son, by nature, is incredibly curious about the world God made and how it works.  But we had no time or energy to let him explore the things that interested him most because all of our time was consumed with learning what was required in school.  Again, a great school and a fantastic teacher.  But a system that left our family drained and weary, instead of infused with excitement and enthusiasm for learning the things we would like to.

And so, we are homeschooling.  We started last week because I wanted the flexibility a year round calendar allows for.  Our first week has been fun, exciting and slightly nerve-wracking.  But it has already shown me that we made the right decision.  That whether it is a good day or a difficult one, it will be a balanced one for our family.