Sunday, August 12, 2012

Why Do We Homeschool???

There is really not just one answer to this one.

It has stemmed from quite a few things
over quite a few years...

5 years ago,
when taking my oldest to his 3 yo preschool
class,
I met a mom who homeschooled.
My comment:
"Oh I could never do that!"

Fast forward a few years,
life happened
and we had pulled R out of preschool.
So instead of going to 4 yo preschool class
he was at home with me.

The hubs and I started to talk about it.
And ultimately,
we knew he would get a better education
(what kid would not thrive with a private tutor?)
and
we wanted our values and our family
to be his main influences...
not his peers at school.

We had already discovered that
we weren't like most other parents
our age
or 
with kids our kids ages.

We were a little more 
"old fashioned".

So we were getting geared up to homeschool 
him for Kindergarten.

Then, 
again, 
life happened...
and off to school he went!

I squashed the homeschooling thought.
And we sent his brother to school 
with him 2 years later.

If it ain't broke...
don't fix it.

He was fine,
they were fine.

Then we decided to make the move out here to 
Te-has.

And when my sister and mom took the kids for
ice cream while I packed,
my sister asked if my oldest was going to miss his friends.
He had been with the same kids for over 2 years.
He said
"Not really".

My sis relayed this to me later
and I was honestly shocked!
And puzzled...

So we moved out here.
We were in year round school up in NC.
We moved in mid-October,
so the kids had already been in school
well over 9 weeks.
We started the second week of July,
had a 3 week break, 
then went back and were due for another break
in early November.

When we moved,
school had already started down here
and I chose to keep them out for a few weeks.

We were going to explore this new town of ours.

Then a week or so in,
the kids were getting aggravating
so I told them if they didn't calm their tails down
I was sending them to school!

We don't do empty threats in this house,
so since I hadn't signed them up yet
at the local school,
we immediately drove down to the school.
Right then!

(Can't very well send them,
if they aren't registered!
So I had to make sure I could
make good on that threat!)

I unloaded all 4 kids
and marched those boys right into the office.

"I am here to get the paperwork to register my boys please"

PS Lady:  "Ok, would you like to fill it out here"
Me:  "No thanks, I will take it home and do it 
when I am ready to send them in"

Then it started...
she pulled out every excuse,
every reason,
every trick,
every threat
she could think of to get me to register them
right then and there!

I was flabberghasted,
irritated,
shocked
and
ultimately disappointed.

So I took the paperwork
and went home 
and 
the hubs 
and I 
talked some.

I laid in bed that night,
after getting the grilling from the entire
front office staff at the public school,
telling me why I
HAD
to enroll my kids that DAY!

And it was as if God took that 
opportunity to smack me upside the head
and say

"Here ya go!"

I wanted to jump out of bed right then 
and 
there
and 
go research.

I did not, 
I suppressed it.
But jumped on it first thing
the next morning.

Then I started working on the hubs.
And he agreed to let me give it a shot.

Previously we had considered me getting my teaching 
certificate so that I could teach once they were all in school and 
have the same schedule as the kids.

Buy why would I go and get my certificate
to teach other people's kids,
when I could just stay home and teach my OWN kids?!?!


So here we are 
Almost 1 year later
and 
both boys enjoy it
I enjoy it...

And you know what,
I like these little people.

And more than anything,
I do not want to look back on our life
on our family
and say

"I wish we could have/would have
spent more time together.

We get ONE shot at this!
They grow up SO fast!
And I don't want to miss a thing!

I adore these little people
and
am SO thankful
I decided to dedicate my life to 
them.

I know this is my calling...

Wife
and
Mom!


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