These days, I'm mommin' pretty hard you might say. I'm not your typical stay at home, homeschool mom. Nope. I'm one of those rare- full time- work outside the home - moms who so happens to homeschool our boys.
Yes, you read that right.
I work a full time schedule at a local hospital, and my husband also works full time, but we make it work because homeschooling is something I've been feeling the calling to do for quite some time now, and when the opportunity presented itself we jumped at the chance and haven't looked back!
~Sigh~ I really made that sound so easy huh? We had the chance and jumped on it, and voila! We're professional homeschoolers! Ha-Ha!!! Yeah, except, that's NOT reality. Let me break it down for you, incase you're like me, and you second guessed yourself a million times before taking the leap. Or perhaps, you're sitting on the fence wondering if this homeschool life is for you.
My youngest tested in the most advanced levels in every category when he took his Kindergarten placement test. But two months into the school year, they fired his teacher and he had substitute after substitute for nearly 5 months! When they finally hired his new teacher, she administered his mid year evaluation and my boy had regressed in nearly every area on that exam. I was confused as to why my smart little boy was testing as if he knew barely anything. Could it be he was simply tired that day? Was it the lack of stability in the classroom with all the substitute teachers for so many months? Or was it that he was so completely checked out from the classroom environment that he simply didn't care enough to answer the questions correctly? His teacher went on to tell me that he was disruptive in class, that he would often times try to make other kids laugh, or that he would wiggle in his seat, or talk when he wasn't suppose to, and that he would touch the walls when they were walking down the hall. (Duh lady! He's SIX)~Wooosaaaa.
I went home and reviewed the test with him, and in fact - he knew ALL of the information. He was simply checked out. I left that parent teacher conference feeling defeated, sad, angry and disillusioned. Mostly at myself for forcing him to go somewhere he felt so unhappy and disconnected at. I had volunteered several times so I could monitor the situation in his classroom and what I found was that the kids were never allowed to talk, when walking down the halls, they had to walk with their hands behind their backs like little prisoners, there were no happy images on the walls, and he wasn't learning things through songs like we did back when I was in Kindergarten. His day was consumed with being told to sit still, be quiet and do worksheet, after worksheet. No wonder he hated school. Where's the happiness and fun in that? Kindergarten hadn't turned out to be the fun loving experience I had hoped it would be for him, and I only had a few months left to turn this around and salvage what was left of his school year.
That night my husband and I discussed the possibility of me homeschooling him for the remainder of the year, and although there were only 4 months left of the school year, I felt as though I was standing on the edge of a cliff. Even though I had told myself that this was going to be a temporary thing, something in my heart knew that if I did take this leap, there would be a long journey ahead of me, with a ton of expectations placed on me that I wasn't sure I was ready to commit to. Thankfully, I found an incredible tribe of homeschool moms in my area that comforted me in knowing that I was capable of doing this, and that my boy would thrive. You better believe I prayed on this a lot too, and the following week, I woke up and just felt ready. I walked into that office, and asked to withdraw him. And so began our homeschool journey.
We took a month to unschool - basically toss every notion we ever had about education out the window and just act like every day was a Saturday. We played, went to the movies, parks, nature walks, watched TV, hung out, ran our errands together, you name it. And after a month, I bought a language arts curriculum and math curriculum and just focused on those two things very passively in the mornings before continuing on with our unschooled life. In August I had him tested as a baseline mostly just so I would have something to compare it to next Summer, and to make sure he was on grade level - and I am so happy to report he placed on grade level to above grade level in every category, and basically a year ahead in math! So we must be doing something right!
This year, my middle son has joined us in our homeschool journey and we couldn't be happier about it. Now we really get to experience the freedom that homeschooling offers us. We can sleep in if we choose to, take a road trip mid week and get away if we choose to.... We are partnering up with two different homeschool groups so they will have more than their fair share of socializing. We are so stoked!
This journey we've chosen, it's not the easiest journey. There are days I wish I could disconnect and enjoy peace and quiet on my days off. But then there's these moments, where I get to have meaningful discussions with my kids in the middle of the day, where I get to let them be who they are, unapologetically, and without trying to change who they are at their core. Those moments where I see the magic in their eyes when they're learning about something they are curious about, when they are actively learning without even knowing they are, those are the moments I live for. I wouldn't trade them for the world - well maybe once in while for a quiet cup of coffee - but for the most part, I live for this and there's no where in the world I'd rather be than right here with them, along side them on this journey. Because this journey of growth is as much about them as it is about me and I'm ready.
I hope you'll join me on this blog, and check back in on my mom diary as I will be sharing our journey here. Excited to see what's in store for us this year!
