My homeschooling story

When I began this blog I meant to write out how and why we came to the decsion to homeschool but I never got around to it, so here it is:

Ever since Seth was about 2 years old I had been thinking about homeschooling when it was time for him to be in school. I began unofficially teaching him at home during his preschool years. We didn't use a curriculum or anything, I just read to him a lot and through that he learned the alphabet and the sounds they made. Through daily life he learned how to count, etc. When he was 4 1/2 I began to teach him to read using the book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." He was reading by his 5th birthday. He self-taught himself many things once he began reading. I also wanted to be the one to teach morals and to teach him to love the Lord. I know that schools cannot teach morals, but they do.

Enter May of 2010: it was time to make a decision on whether or not to homeschool Seth. After much discussion we decided that we would send him to public school since I had the other 3 kids and my husband really wanted him to experience public school even though both of us were very  bored by 5th grade. We have a very good school system here and wanted to give it a chance. Seth began school in August. Those first few days were hard for me just as I expected but I did begin to get used to it. As the weeks went by I could tell he was not being challenged at all. He already knew all of his letters and how to count to 100. He was already reading well. When I would ask him what he did in school he would tell me about the special classes they had such as art and library (his favorite). They also watched a lot of movies in his class. They spent about a month or so watching a Leapfrog movie that taught the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they made. He also didn't like all the coloring he had to do in school and for homework. He did enjoy school though. He made some friends and had a very nice teacher.

Seth's behavior also changed while he was in school. He was overtired. He came home tired from being in school all day but full of energy because they sat a lot. He became more on edge and nervous. He began doing things like kicking and hitting his siblings because that's what he learned when he was around his classmates. He also talked about how some of the kids in his class behaved badly. I began entertaining the thought of pulling him out at the semester or finishing out the year and then homeschooling him in first grade. I had a very good friend tell me that when the time was right to pull him out and begin homeschooling I would know.

I believe it was the last week of September or early October when our family took a week long trip to visit my parents in Indianapolis. Seth would miss a whole week of school. That week was absolutely wonderful! Seth calmed down and his behavior improved. I had my old Seth back. That was when we knew we were going to pull him out, but we were still not sure of the timing. 

In mid-October it was time for parent/teacher conferences. Seth's teacher talked about how well behaved he was and how he was doing great. She also mentioned that she knew he was bored. The conference didn't last long enough to really discuss our concerns though. We finally made the decision that we would pull him out at the end of the month.

Seth's last day of public school was the day of his fall party. I went to his party and then cleaned out his cubby. His teacher's only words to me were "I'm still in denial. We will miss him." I left wondering if I made the right decision.

Since then we have been working through math and phonics/handwriting workbooks as well as writing in a journal every day and reading various books. I am planning on ordering a new science curriculum for him as I didn't like the one we were doing. His reading is improving greatly. We still need to work on some comprehension though. He is learning to count ny 2's in math and is working on adding and subtracting 7's. For example, 3+4=7. He is fascinated by astronomy so I will be ordering Apologia's elementary science curriculum. He also loves legos and spends hours building and playing with them. We also have several friends with children his age who homeschool so we get together with them regularly. He also goes to Awanas every wednesday with his best friend. He memorizes scripture there. He also goes to Sunday school every week.

Taylor is also learning a lot this year too even though she's not officially homeschooling. We are going through "Teaching Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." She can read some simple words and knows the sounds the letters of the alphabet make. She is also learning how to write her name and a few other letters and numbers. She can count to 100 and has a great vocabulary.

I have had overwhelming support from most people. I have become friends with new people and have also deepened friendships with several great women.

Am I anti-public school? Not at all. We have a very good school district here. I have made the mistake of comparing what I'm teaching to the public schools. The bottom line is that yes we are covering the same things, but we are also doing some things differently which is one of the reasons I'm homeschooling. After I wrote the previous blog post I found this article. It pretty much sums up my worries and gave me lots of encouragement. Please read it if you have the time: http://simplehomeschool.net/i-want-to-homeschool-but-dont-want-the-responsibility/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SimpleHomeschool+%28Simple+Homeschool%29&utm_content=Twitter.

So, have I made the final decision on whether or not to homeschool next year? No. Do I have a much better idea? Yes. I am leaning towards homeschooling.