I think deciding to homeschool has been one of the easiest, yet most questionable (questioned by myself) decisions I’ve had to make to date. As a child that was homeschooled, I vowed not to homeschool my own children. And then, I remarried and now have the most supportive husband I could ask for. With that supportiveness, he understands my value in education. We are able to see where the educational system is lacking for our oldest two, so now that it’s time for Charlie to go off to school, we made a decision.
In a few short weeks, Charlie will be entering kindergarten. By choosing to homeschool, I can’t give her a redo of going off to a brick and mortar school. She won’t get to ride on a school bus everyday. She won’t be one of sixty plus incoming kindergartners who are all new to the school. Is this the right decision to homeschool? I’m taking away many firsts to give her a completely different opportunity.
But as I look back over this past year, I can see how homeschooling is the fit we need for our family. Will it be a fit until each child graduates? Probably not, but I’m here for the ride and I have an ear open to God’s calling. This past year I had looked into putting Charlie into the pre-k program that her two older sisters attended. As I began adding up the cost and realized the amount of time she would be away with so little actually spent on academics, I realized it just didn’t make sense for us. And then… COVID- that completed the decision for us. We would be homeschooling for pre-k.
I love how every homeschooler out there says don’t push preschool and pre-k, but Charlie was ready. I was ready for her to have some structure to her day and see the amount of learning she could take on. So we put together a loose curriculum. And we joined a co-op.
In co-op we connected with so many families. Charlie and Lettie had the socialization they needed. I had the fellowship of other moms that I needed. And we had the accountability for schooling that we needed. We plan to continue in our co-op until it is no longer a good fit. I’m excited for our 2021-2022 school year!
I have also decided to open our home to teach preschool two days a week. It’s a small group, but it will give Lettie the social interaction she needs as she is still too little to attend co-op (she goes to nursery).
By following God’s calling, I’m able to explore all the curriculum and all the children’s books. Such a dream of mine. All from one decision, a life-altering decision, yet simple decision.
If you have children in school, leave a comment below. How old are they? Did you decide to homeschool, private/charter school or send them to public? Why or why not? How are they doing in school? I wanna hear from you!