Monday, March 7, 2011

What a Day!

The hubby and I have been discussing homeschooling our kids (currently two boys with a little girl due in June) for years, but it always felt like a "in a perfect world" type dream. You know, along the lines of what would you do if you won the lottery. I work full-time as a college professor. The hubby is going to school full-time to become a Physical Therapy Assistant. Two kids, one on the way. Who would have the time?

Then, my oldest, AJ, came home from school. They had made these paper Cat in the Hat hats in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday. Cool, right? Except for the fact that my 6-year-old, who has been writing his letters correctly since he was three, had three rhyming words for hat with capital letter that had been written backwards.

And the teacher didn't correct him. It's all about the effort.

I snapped. Seriously, I felt like the worst parent ever. I knew my kid was "too smart" for public education kindergarten. His preschool, an excellent place that is very student-centered, set him far and beyond many of the other students in his class. He knows his numbers into the tens of thousands. His class has been working on the numbers 1-30 since Thanksgiving. Still, I felt the "school experience" was worth being ahead of the rest of his class.

I was so wrong.

He's bored. He's had several behavioral issues, mostly because he's bored. He hates school already and tries to get out of going whenever he can. If I don't do something soon, I'm going to lose my brilliant son to the apathy of public school students.

Being an academic, I researched academic articles to get the "real" scoop on homeschooling. I had read lots of blogs, books, and magazines on homeschoolers, by homeschooling parents. I wanted to read from those who weren't promoting their own propaganda. I was shocked at what I found.

There was nothing, absolutely NOTHING of value, that was negative about homeschooling children. And the pros? I couldn't list them all in this blog. I've spent a couple of days talking to the husband and my mom, a retired elementary school assistant teacher, and the decision was officially made today.

As of August 2011, we will be a homeschooling family. Dear Lord, what have we gotten ourselves into?

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