***Not all children will change in a negative way by attending public school. This is simply what I experienced with my own child. I am in no way against public school. There are many wonderful, caring teachers and administrators in the school system whom I applaud and appreciate for all they do for our children. The following experience is simply one factor in my decision to homeschool my children.
Let me start by saying I never intended to homeschool my children. Even though Spencer was homeschooled until high school, it wasn’t even a thought I entertained before having children or even when they were little. He didn’t want to homeschool our children either although he really loved being homeschooled himself.
When my oldest was in first grade, she put up a fight about homework nearly every day. It was exhausting. All I could think about was how she was missing out on play time because that is what she wanted to do. She just wanted to play. She was missing out on being a kid. Our relationship was turning into me sending her out the door in the morning, hounding her about homework, and hurrying her off to bed after dinner so she could get a good night’s rest for school the next morning. I didn’t like it.
And although she never once complained about going to school because she loved seeing her friends, she was turning into a different kid. She was changing in a way that concerned me. She was more emotional. She would burst into tears over the littlest things. She was becoming anxious.
She had already showed perfectionist tendencies as a two and three year old, and those tendencies were coming out more and more in an unhealthy way. She would cry if she missed a problem on her homework and become easily frustrated if she didn’t understand something the first time through. She was seven years old. A seven year old shouldn’t feel this kind of pressure.
When summer hit, we were all relieved. Homework was over, and I couldn’t wait to have quality time with my girl again.
All summer long I had a nagging feeling about homeschool. I couldn’t shake it as hard as I tried. I didn’t want to acknowledge it. I also could bear the thought of going through another school year with homework and the stress is caused my daughter. The thought of taking school on myself was daunting. How could I possibly do it? Would she hate me for pulling her away from her friends at school? Despite how hard I tried, the feeling wouldn’t leave. I did my best to ignore it and push it aside all summer long.
Two weeks before school started I went to the store, school supply lists in hand for her and my soon to be kindergartener. I had everything picked out and was standing in the checkout line when the woman in front of me struck up a conversation. She had seen Spencer present at a doTERRA event and knew who I was. She started telling me all about homeschool. (And how she was taking off on an RV adventure, but we’ll save that topic for later. Haha.) I was dying inside. Are you kidding me?! I’m in the line buying school supplies that I’m not sure I even want deep down, and you are telling me how great homeschooling is.
Do you believe in coincidences or that things happen for a reason? I tend to side with the latter opinion.
I promptly checked out, hurried to my car, and burst into tears. If you know me, you know I rarely cry.
When I got home, I carried the school supplies in, walked upstairs to find Spencer (who was worried when he saw me), and told him what happened. He suggested I take the next several days to research and pray about what to do. He ultimately left the decision up to me because I would be the primary teacher. I spent the rest of the week reading and researching and decided to homeschool. I had the most overwhelming peaceful feeling even though I knew what was ahead would not be an easy path.
The amount of homeschooling curriculum available was incredibly overwhelming. So, I called my sister-in-law who also happened to be pulling her kids out of public school that year and said, “I know you’ve done the research. Tell me what you’ve found.” She made it so simple for me. I settled on doing the minimum with math, language, handwriting, and reading time. Everything else we happened to get done on a given day – art projects, crafts, science, history, would all be extras.
Part 2 of my decision coming soon – Why I Was Nervous to Send My Son to School.
