That "time" is approaching. I confess that I dread watching the shelves at the store fill up with school supplies the day after the 4th of July celebration. It is at this time that the countdown begins. It usually starts at five weeks. I walk the aisles and think-- Nooo! Summer just flies by and we find ourselves back in the grind. Can I just say, UGH?!
As much as I try not to get sucked into "Back to School" fever, I always do. Which brings me to my next two posts. This first post is about why I choose to homeschool K-Grade 3. My second post about homeschooling will include some pictures of our first couple of weeks back at "school."
I know many stay-at-home mamas think about homeschooling their children. Although homeschooling is not for everyone, I am soooo very glad that we decided to go that route. Why did we make that choice? The first reason for our decision to homeschool was our desire to build strong godly character in our daughter. We were eager to teach a Bible curriculum during our school day. We also wanted to start our day with prayer; something that is discouraged in many public schools.
The second reason for homeschooling; I knew it could be done. I had confidence in my ability to teach because I had been a preschool teacher for eleven years. I already had many resources that I collected over the years and had many years of experience with lesson planning and teaching Pre-K and Kindergarten levels. Let me be frank, whether you have eleven years of teaching experience or not, Kindergarten is a not that difficult. With the right curriculum, you can educate your child with much efficiency.
The third reason for our decision to homeschool was the one-on-one attention Alexa would be getting with her education. Being able to adjust the curriculum when needed, gave us the option to linger in areas of interest (like a science unit, for example). We were also able to work on more challenging areas without being rushed to move on to the next unit. This allowed us to really understand the material being taught. Another benefit was the ability to move on as soon as a lesson was mastered. Being able to pace our day according to my discretion allowed for some great learning experiences!
The fourth reason for teaching at home was knowing that I would be able to spend more time with my daughter. I would be able to instill my values and my beliefs in her at an impressionable age. The world would have her soon enough. The world and her peers would bombard her with many fallacies for the rest of her life. As her mom, I wasn't ready to send her unguarded into the world. I relished in the extra time that I had with her. I committed myself to nine years of molding and shaping her before sending her off to the fast pace of public school. And for us, it worked.
I think I secretly hoped to homeschool all the way through high school. As much as I wanted to continue, we struggled with many "roadblocks." With all the positives that come with homeschooling, there are also some negatives. For one, you are your child's teacher (I could just stop right there!). In my case, I had to deal with some resistance from my beloved daughter. I had to address attitude issues many times. Many times. (Along with all the good she received from me, she also received some of my unfavorable attributes...yes, I have those too.) Things were said, like, "Vocabulary, againnnnnn?" I would also get some eye rolling and the sort. After praying about my role as her teacher, I knew that it was coming to an end. I knew that she would be ready to take direction from others without the eye rolling. Little booger. I knew she would be able to excel without my close attention. I knew God was preparing me for the inevitable...public school.
When that time came, I was very sad. You can read about my transition here.
I could very well send Alayah to public school, but I feel that it just wouldn't be fair. I committed to Alexa's early education, I would most definitely do the same for Alayah. So where are we today?
We will be doing first grade again. According to her birthdate, she misses the school cut-off date by three weeks. So she would be placed in first grade this year, anyway. Last year, we worked through a first grade curriculum. Although she did very well, I felt that we were only able to focus on reading, math and Bible. I incorporated other subjects into our day, but felt like we couldn't delve into them efficiently. Now that she is a year older, she will be seven on Sep. 21, we will be able to take our learning to the next level. She will be a more advanced first grader. I thought it would be great (after much thinking) to take advantage of the birthdate cut-off instead of making her a very young second grader. Being in America for a little over three years, we thought this would be the best scenario for her development! Also, maybe because of maturity, she seems to have younger friends, by a year or two. The biggest positive for me is that I get to spend more time with her. I get to continue building the great relationship we already have! So we will see how this year goes and what God has planned for us! I will keep you posted.
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