I have been such a chicken about writing this post and have been avoiding it for about three months. You know how it is one thing to think about something and a whole other thing to actually do it? That being said, this is a blog about our family and this is a huge step for us and it is important, I don't want to be ashamed. I know that I have family and friends (you know who you are :-) who just don't understand and that is okay, all I want is for them to not treat us like freaks but to realize that we know what is best for our boys and our family.
So here goes.... YES we are homeschooling and have been since the beginning of January. We have a unique opportunity where we live because we have a Catholic co-op for homeschoolers. Essentially this is a two day/week "school" that the boys attend. The difference is that the moms' teach, run the nursery and preschool. Fortunately, we have three college professor moms and one with a degree in elementary education!
We came to this decision after A LOT of discernment (you may remember my first post on this blog.) Joseph was completely unhappy at school. I don't know exactly why he didn't like it, but he complained daily, was stressed out and pretty much made our lives miserable for four months. We knew we had to make a change but we didn't know what to do. This led us to looking into all options in our area and homeschooling is a very popular one here. There are many secular, Christian and Catholic homeschool groups. There are also many extracurricular activities specifically for homeschoolers. I certainly do not think that I could do this without our co-op. The boys are in a school setting for two days a week, uniforms and all, and we are sent home with assignments for the other three days.
The results have been incredible! Our home is much more relaxed and the boys are excelling in their studies. Joseph is in 1st grade at the co-op because he isn't bound by the state laws to be in kindergarten, even though he missed the cut-off by one month. Henry, who is 4 1/2 is in kindergarten, and is reading exceptionally well and just finished his math book and it is only February (please excuse my bragging about my boys ;-)
I do not question our decision one bit, except for being a scaredy-cat about telling people!
I do not know if we will do this forever, I anticipate that we won't, but for now it is working. I have peace about this decision because of the fruit that it is bearing in our lives: peace and a better home-life.
WHEW....I feel so much better now that I got that off of my chest!
P.S.
P.S.
Check out this link for a laugh!
5 comments:
Molly, You know whats best for your family! So if homeschooling works for you, then go for it! It doesn't work for us because we both work (which I hate). If I could be a SAHM... I don't know what I would do about school. I know that getting kids to school is a pain.. and I despise homework..only when you can do homework on your own should actually have it. Any other time, it is just busy work. But I work and since I pay most of the bills and carry the insurance for our family, it doesn't look like I will be able to quit my job any time soon.
You really should talk with Lena Vrazel (Mike's wife from ABC). She is homeschooling (second year) and she loves it. She is also uses a coop. She has 5 kids. I am going to send her a link to her blog. She is on Facebook!
Good for you for doing what is best for your family!
Never be ashamed of doing what you feel is best for your family!
Congrats! Just own it that you're freaks! We totally are too!
Seriously though, I am glad to hear things are going well! We are doing such a great job getting together perhaps we can have a field trip sometime. I would love to have y'all up and go to the Air Force Museum or something else!
Thank you everyone for your kind comments. It makes me feel like maybe I am not crazy?!
Hi Molly-
I am Lena, Mike's wife. The one Heahter mentioned. I am a homeschool mom of 5. It was a big deal for us to start to homeschool. Mike wasn't too crazy about the idea but he goes along with it now. For now we are part of a coop two days a week. It is really hard to get there because only the two older boys (9 & 7) really use it for the academics and the rest of us just go along to socialize. We have met a lot of great homeschool families and it is amazing how each family is so unique. I do get the negative comments every once in a while but I also get a lot of people saying they wish they could homeschool their kids. I think this year has been harder with the new baby but last year was hard b/c I was so nervous. Being an elementary school teacher really doesn't prepare you to stay home and teach your own kids. Glad to hear that you are trying it out. One homeschool friend did give me some advice that I try to remember. "Do what is most important; pray, bible study, hugs and kisses and everything else is considered a bonus." Whenever I get so frustrated I try to think of this.
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