I NEVER Wanted to Homeschool...
It’s true… I never wanted this life. I grew up dreaming about being the classroom mom. You know, the one who chaperoned all the field trips, baked cupcakes for birthdays, dropped in for a special lunch, and was loved by all her child’s classmates. Even before my son was born, I planned for days filled with book clubs, clean home, and special home cooked meals daily, wrapped up by the kids coming home on the school bus. I planned for a perfectly normal life… so how did we end up here???
The Friends That (Unknowingly) Planted Seeds
When my son was born, we lived in Central Texas. We were part of a life group with our church and I had connected deeply with a couple of the ladies. Up until this point (in my mind), homeschoolers were weird and sheltered and probably made the oddest adults! But I soon found out, these friends I was most connected to not only homeschooled their children, but they were homeschooled themselves!! One was even a nurse (I mean… I thought all homeschoolers just became missionaries.)
I found their journeys fascinating, but I clung to my dreams of being the classroom mom. That is, until I stopped looking at my dreams and started looking at my son.
The Boy That Changed It All
K has always shocked us with his desire to learn and his interest in the world around him. Coming from a family full of educators, I matched his every question with an answer, book, or game.
By the time he was ready to start preschool, he already knew everything they set to teach him. And I know my son… when he gets bored, he gets restless and more than his education, I was concerned with him being mislabeled as a “bad kid” simply because he was bored.
So… We chose to homeschool. BUT I wasn’t totally giving in! We were going to homeschool preschool and send him to public Kindergarten for sure!
Kindergarten and Beyond
By the time pre-k rolled around, my family was in the middle of a crazy season in life. We had just purchased a home, my step-dad had passed, and my husband was getting ready to deploy for the third time. Life was a struggle, but we had come to love the flexibility homeschool gave our schedule. When life was hard, homeschool was put on pause to spend time with loved ones. When life was quiet, we were able to work.
I was still on the fence about this homeschool thing when a mentor gifted me an entire Kindergarten curriculum. Since my son has a summer birthday, we decided to go ahead with the kinder work and see if we could balance two kids, real curriculum, and an ever changing schedule.
And what did we find out?
More than balance, we found we THRIVED! As a family, in education, in mental health… everyone in our family thrived from homeschooling!
But What About...
The big question that we are always asked, “But what about ____?” Fill in the blank as you’d like, we have heard it all: high school, socialization, sports, work? There is an answer to every question, but the only thing I can answer is simple.
We homeschool because it works right now. We made the decision for this year and we will reevaluate that decision next spring, and every spring, until our children graduate. The answer may change in the future, but for now, we homeschool because its best for us in this season.
I would be lying to say I don’t dream about homeschooling all through high school, but more than my dreams, I care about what is best for my children and will always… ALWAYS do what is best for them, even if that means adjusting my dreams to ones I didn’t know I wanted.
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