I took the crooked path down homeschooling highway. I'm not one of those people who always thought they would homeschool. As a matter of fact, I received my California Teaching Credential in 1998. I thought I would stay home and raise my children and when they were school-age we would all go off to public school together hand in hand. The idea was that we would have the same schedule including vacation time. I thought it was the perfect career for a mother. Fast forward five years - my oldest enters kindergarten. We had been involved in a very loving co-op preschool for 2 years and now I needed to find a kindergarten that I felt just as good about. I began searching for a public school that would continue to honor his individuality and curiosity. His first kindergarten experience was at a dual immersion school. We lasted 5 weeks. Needless to say it didn't live up to my expectations. It was too reminiscent of the things I had read about in Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto. Yes, I was reading books about homeschooling before my children entered school because I needed to research all options. Even after all I had read I still wanted to give public school a chance. So we switched from the dual immersion program to a Waldorf inspired charter school. My son spent his kindergarten year (Oct-June) at this school. By the end of the year I knew that this school was not a good fit for us. They taught no academics and my son was starving for more direct instruction.
What to do next? I considered homeschooling at this point but alas I felt I should give our neighborhood school a chance. My big dilemma at this point was whether to put him in the first grade or kindergarten again. He has a late summer birthday so he would be one of the youngest if I put him in first grade. Most people in my situation waited to put their kindergartners into school until they were 6 especially if they were boys. So I made my first big mistake...I put him in kindergarten at the neighborhood school. It was very clear from almost day one that he should have been in first grade. He was reading fluently, was very focused, and most importantly he was bored. As it turns out we had one of the worst teachers possible. She was obviously burnt out, didn't care to think outside the box, and seemed to have no real interest in the kids or what she was teaching. Realizing that we were in a dead end we did not return after Christmas break.
This was our first time Homeschooling. I signed him up with our first homeschool program and moved him into the first grade. We homeschooled the spring semester of first grade and then the fall semester of second grade. I began to feel extremely overwhelmed as a stay at home mom with an infant, a preschooler, and a second grader. I decided one more time to put my oldest one in school. I begged the universe to please let this work because I felt like I was drowning in mommyhood. I needed a break. This second time around I didn't put my son into public school because I thought it was the best educational choice. I did it because I needed to breathe and I didn't know what else to do. He went to the neighborhood school for the rest of second grade and third grade. I really liked his second grade teacher. She was a little out there and I liked that. Of course, the other parents didn't like her and eventually she was driven out. Third grade was o.k. Homeschooling was always in the back of my mind but I wasn't ready to make that leap again. At this time my second son was in kindergarten at the same school but with a different kindergarten teacher than my first son had had. Son #2 had a really wonderful teacher. You could just tell that he loved teaching and loved hanging out with the kids. His heart was in it. We made it through that year. I was seriously considering homeschooling both the boys the next year but I still wasn't convinced it was the right decision. I wanted to see if my boys would get good teachers for 1st and 4th grade and then decide whether they would continue there. Well, they both got great teachers. But we last only about a month. The boys weren't happy and I wasn't either. There were lots of things that bothered me. For one thing, my first grader wasn't passing the sight word levels quick enough according to the teacher. He was starting to say he hated reading and he wasn't good at it. He was only 6 1/2! My 4th grader was overwhemled with the number of students in his class. I think there were about 34 kids in his class. He didn't have enough time to read. I pulled both boys out of school for the last time - that was 3 years ago.
This was our first time Homeschooling. I signed him up with our first homeschool program and moved him into the first grade. We homeschooled the spring semester of first grade and then the fall semester of second grade. I began to feel extremely overwhelmed as a stay at home mom with an infant, a preschooler, and a second grader. I decided one more time to put my oldest one in school. I begged the universe to please let this work because I felt like I was drowning in mommyhood. I needed a break. This second time around I didn't put my son into public school because I thought it was the best educational choice. I did it because I needed to breathe and I didn't know what else to do. He went to the neighborhood school for the rest of second grade and third grade. I really liked his second grade teacher. She was a little out there and I liked that. Of course, the other parents didn't like her and eventually she was driven out. Third grade was o.k. Homeschooling was always in the back of my mind but I wasn't ready to make that leap again. At this time my second son was in kindergarten at the same school but with a different kindergarten teacher than my first son had had. Son #2 had a really wonderful teacher. You could just tell that he loved teaching and loved hanging out with the kids. His heart was in it. We made it through that year. I was seriously considering homeschooling both the boys the next year but I still wasn't convinced it was the right decision. I wanted to see if my boys would get good teachers for 1st and 4th grade and then decide whether they would continue there. Well, they both got great teachers. But we last only about a month. The boys weren't happy and I wasn't either. There were lots of things that bothered me. For one thing, my first grader wasn't passing the sight word levels quick enough according to the teacher. He was starting to say he hated reading and he wasn't good at it. He was only 6 1/2! My 4th grader was overwhemled with the number of students in his class. I think there were about 34 kids in his class. He didn't have enough time to read. I pulled both boys out of school for the last time - that was 3 years ago.
Homeschooling stats: Including the 1st/2nd grade year - 4th, 5th, 6th grades, my oldest has been homeschooled for 4 years. My second son has been homeschooled for 3 years (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and my youngest has homeschooled her entire school career (pre-K and K) for two years.
This is the first year I can honestly say that I didn't have second thoughts. I didn't go looking for alternatives to homeschooling. I can proudly say that I didn't fill out any paperwork for any schools or go on any new parent tours. I know for many of you this doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment but for me it's huge.
My crooked path to homeschooling is a result of my wanting the best for my children. Maybe I've over analyzed a situation or two and been guilty of seeing greener grass on the other side but I've never been afraid to make changes when I felt it was necessary. And this winding road has brought us here today...embracing homeschooling.
