I was reading a blog this morning about homeschooling, the writer was saying what got her started on her home school journey and I have to say, it sounded very, very familiar as it pretty much resembled my reasoning's! I was the mom who was never going to "home school." Quite frankly the idea of homeschooling seemed ridiculous to me! There are many families in our church who have chosen to home school and I remember asking them the same question that I've been asked hundreds of times, "what about socialization?" As a non-homeschooler, I just didn't get why you would not send your kids to school. All of that changed suddenly last year, when my oldest had what could be termed as a "break down" at school that could have been avoided had the administration handled situations differently. It was that day that I pulled him out of school, to my surprise, he kept saying "no, i don't want to be home schooled" however he hated school. I felt in my heart of hearts though that I needed to do this for his own well being, so I did!
That day I brought him home and called a dear friend who home schools her kids and said, "okay, now what?" I had no idea where to begin. I had spoken with my friend about homeschooling before and had briefly contemplated it, but nothing more than a passing thought, primarily when dealing with some of the social issues that my oldest has. I really didn't think I would take the step though, and I especially didn't think it would be such a sudden decision. I still remember the day, Ray was in Iraq and I had no way to contact him, my mom was unavailable and basically I was all alone. I was so mad at the administration at the school for the way a situation was being handled when I received a call from the school counselor telling me I needed to come up to the school to calm my son down right away. It was that moment that I knew that sending him there was not good for him.
That day, after talking to my friend, I signed him up for "time for learning" as it was a complete curriculum that was grade specific, an I didn't know what else to do. Later that day I made an appt with Home Choice Academy and met with the principal to see what options I had there. I also contacted a local art school and signed him up for art classes as he loves to draw. By the end of the following week he was enrolled at Home Choice in a writing class, typing class and P.E. as well as being in the drawing classes at the art school. The best thing, he was happy! I can't tell you how long it had been since I had seen this child "happy." Plus, probably the best thing was that he was wanting to "socialize" with people. He had never really cared about playing with others before, he was content just having his brothers. But now, he was actually asking for friends to come over. He was also socializing in some of his classes, something that he had not done previously.
What I realized is that the idea of "socialization" in his public school was forced. He was forced to only socialize with a specific group of people everyday, he did not get to choose who he would like to be around, it was chosen for him. What I have noticed is that he has an easier time socializing with people older than him as well as people younger than he is, it's his peers he has problems with. I believe it's because he can't really figure out the "hierarchy" of the relationship. So in PS he would just "shut down" and not talk. Taking him out of PS and deciding to home school him along with placing him in several of the classes I did, allowed him to interact with a group of different people who were different ages, some older, some younger and some the same. Therefore, his social skills flourished. And people were afraid that homeschooling him would keep him from "socializing..."
I also found a variety of "extra" classes/field trips offered that we took advantage of. He had some great opportunities for "hands on learning" which we both loved!
I was so happy that everything worked out and he seemed to thrive at home it was an easy decision for me to keep him home for his 5th grade year. However the decision that was not as easy was what to do with my other two children. My middle son was in second grade and loved school, mainly because he had a great teacher who he had for the previous year as well and he had a lot of friends at school. My youngest was scheduled to start kindergarten this last fall, and as silly as it sounds, I was afraid of doing him a "disservice" not sending him to school. After all, think of all the great "kindergarten memories..." Yeah, I know, you can stop laughing, but it was a concern I had. Upon a lot praying I finally decided to take the chance and keep all the boys home this year.
I am so happy that I made this choice. As I stated on an earlier blog post, keeping them home and working with them has helped me discover things about each of them I may not have ever noticed. For example, J is being tested for an "auditory processing disorder" in the next few weeks, I would not have had any idea about this had I not had him home and been able to see right away what he was doing and struggling with.
As for being afraid that L was going to miss out on things if I didn't keep him home, I have noticed just the opposite happening. He is getting to experience so many more things! He is learning constantly and is so happy about it.
The most important thing? I'm getting to spend time with my boys that would have been lost! For that I will always be thankful!
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