Now that I am one whole, entire, long week into homeschooling my two children ages 6 & 8, I'm even more convinced that there is a large part of me that is indeed crazy. And yet, I do not feel we've made the wrong choice.
So begins this family's journey through homeschooling. We made the decision back in October after a conversation with my kids while driving them to school (much past our 7:30 AM start time). My daughter was having a rough time with school. She wasn't connecting with her eccentric, 2nd grade teacher or the kids in her class. All of her friends were in the room next door. She was crying every day before and after school. A complete 360 from the previous two years. She complained of being bored and it not being fun. She repeatedly said they only did math...all day. As a former teacher, I felt there was more to the story but when I contacted the teacher about what might be making her feel this way and what could be done to help her feel connected, her teacher simply responded with, "Well you can change her teacher if you want."
Anyways, back to the car conversation. She made a comment, once again, that she didn't like school and didn't want to go. Her brother responded, "Yeah, I don't like school either because all we do is learn." I chuckled to myself thinking, wow, that's great. My daughter replied, "I don't like school because all we do is study for the STAR test." Ugh. My heart sank. Really? Was this her experience? And why? She's seven years old and there is no STAR test for second graders and we are only a few weeks into school, why on earth is THIS the reason she doesn't like school?
After signing the kids in to school for what would be one of numerous tardies that school year, I rushed home to discuss our schooling options with my husband. In short, we live in a very large, rural and diverse district in Central Texas. It services over 9,000 students with more than half being Hispanic and 68% considered disadvantaged. The district faces a lot of challenges with poverty and English as a second language. There is one private, Christian K- 3 School and nothing else. We could drive 45 minutes into Austin to a charter or a private school but that's a lot of car time and what is the point of leaving in the country then? Homeschooling is quite common out here and I was getting to know more and more families who were making the switch.
After a few conversations with friends in the area and researching what the benefits of homeschool could be, our decision was made to go for it. It was based on 1) the school's emphasis on testing, 2) the potential force of switching elementary schools due to district rezoning, 3) no other schooling option in a reasonable drive, 4) having a couple close friends who we'd be supported by, and 5) having just rebuilt our house (after losing it in a wildfire - a whole other story) with an unused second floor that could become our homeschool space.
We did keep the kids in public school for the remainder of the year. We switched our daughter's teacher and things improved dramatically for her. My son had quite possibly the best kindergarten teacher ever. We spent time finishing the upstairs and researching philosophies, curriculum and how to do this thing.
Now, I'm one week into it and my initial feeling is homeschooling is like the majority of jobs/careers out there. It will need to be on the job training - learn as you go.
I'd love for you to follow my rollercoaster ride as I attempt to master this thing. I promise to be honest if not raw at times. But I will always share something good, even if my husband or my friend Lisa has to point it out for me first. :)
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