I thought it would be fun to document a little re-cap of how we're feeling about our choice to homeschool. Since starting in the 7th grade, some would say we're perhaps
late to the game. I will say, that I often find myself entertaining the thought that I wish we'd been brave enough to start this homeschooling journey sooner. Zoey had been asking to homeschool since the 4th grade and at that time we pulled her out of public and tried a charter school and after two years of that, we finally felt confident enough to go ahead and be brave and try homeschooling. I wonder though, that had we not started this late, if she would still be so happy with the choice of homeschooling now here in the thick of the middle school years. She truly got a taste of public school and decided it wasn't her first choice and now gets to own that knowing full well what public school looked and felt like.
It's been awesome! Can I say that again? IT'S BEEN AWESOME!!
We were a bit shaky in the beginning...lots of doubts floating around, lots of
what if's to think about. Are we using the right curriculum? Are we documenting enough? Heck, are we doing this right? They are still there, we're just in a place right now where we're really feeling our groove. Every single day I am thankful that we are homeschooling! Most importantly, so is Zoey! She tells me, "I am so happy we are homeschooling!" almost daily. When I ask for her reasons they range from being thankful that she can do her own thing, or go deeper in any given subject when she wishes to, to enjoying the fact that she doesn't have some of the daily stressors that public school had. She tells me that she couldn't imagine going back to public school now after getting a taste of homeschooling. :)
One thing right off the bat that was a struggle was the
idea of what our school day was supposed to look like. Zoey was carrying over the stress and hurry up mentality that public school was, into our homeschooling day through no fault of her own. It's just what she had known for so long...so it naturally carried over. If there is one piece of advice that I would share with individuals that are starting this homeschooling journey, it would be to take the time to deschool. It was recommended to me by so many people and I shrugged it off as something that we didn't need to do. We did have the benefit of having a whole summer behind us before homeschooling and that helped some, but if I were to be honest, we did need more time to get away from the idea of what school at home should be vs. what it could be. Thankfully, we quickly realized this and adjusted things so that we were a bit more relaxed and since, have been transitioning into what our school day is now shaping into in a more authentic manner.
We love waking up in the morning and having the time to make and eat a good breakfast. I love seeing Zoey choose a book and read while eating her breakfast, all while, the sun starts shining in through our kitchen windows and on to our table. I love being able to notice what is around us. We've been able to take note of what kinds of birds visit our feeders daily, how they interact with one another. We've seen wildlife in our yard, woods and neighborhood. Wolves, a fox, raccoons, deer, even a bear this past spring! So fascinating! She gets to help cook throughout the day and meal plan. She can (relatively speaking) have control over when she does school each day and thus is learning how to manage her time and juggle responsibility and accountability while getting the taste of the freedom of choice. I've involved her in her curriculum choices as well, as much as possible. We talk about what she thinks would be a good fit, research it and make decisions together. Just recently, over Christmas break she was given some coins to cash in from a family member. Upon cashing it in at the bank she was to use a portion to donate, a portion to save and the rest she could use how she wished. She just asked me the other day if she could use the money she got to keep to purchase a logic workbook!! It's so exciting for me to see her owning her school experience in so many different ways.
This is the logic book that she wants...
Building Thinking Skills Level 3, Figural.
One of our struggles, interestingly enough, is one of worrying whether or not we are going to be able to fit in everything that we want to cover! Again, with the flexibility of homeschooling behind us, we get to rearrange things as much as want to make it work. An example being that while this year we are covering a very thorough anatomy course for science, she has an incredible interest in botany so we've made the decision that we're going to go ahead with a botany course (along with continuing working on math) this summer. It's so awesome that we are both excited about this!
If I had to change any one thing, it would be that I had more time with her and didn't have to juggle work into the mix. That said, working part-time at our local public library certainly has it's perks for a homescooling family! I'm blessed that we have so very many resources literally at our fingertips and that Zoey can spend time there while I'm working. The little bit of extra money certainly helps us with our endeavor as well.
This is where we're at currently! If there is one thing that's certain, it's that things change so we're open to that possibility. Right now however, we're in love with our choice to homeschool and how this year is shaping up!
