Our New Journey

Before the kids were born, the hubster and I tossed around the idea of homeschooling. With neither one of us feeling like the smarty-pants type of parent that you must be to accomplish such a task (successfully), we decided not to think about it. Aaaaand to the backburner it went.


However, it didn’t stay there. It kept nagging at me. I tried to pretend the horror stories of our failing public schools in the media didn’t affect me. That’s not in my state... I live in a small town, that doesn’t happen here... I tried to persuade myself into thinking that it’s not as bad as it seems. Truth be told, it probably seems better than it is.

With Kindergarten behind us, I have been forced to make a decision. My son’s school has been shut down for the next school year as the budget has been cut yet again. More teachers have been laid off and classroom sizes are growing. My son, Mr. Sensitive Ears, did not do well at the beginning of his Kindergarten year. That is, until they split his class into two different classes. He excelled with far fewer classmates. He went from needing an extra reading class to reading an entire book by himself in a matter of weeks.

As parents, we were quite proud of our little scholar and fond of his teacher, Mr. Teacher, but there were still problems. Jaedon complained that he hated school and the only thing he liked about it each day was recess. I noticed that his schoolwork didn’t change much, even though he had mastered the worksheets, he was still doing the very same ones week in, week out. I believe Jaedon became bored of school because he was not being challenged. He still loves to do “school work” at home - so at least I know it isn’t learning that he hates. Yet another issue: bullies. Jaedon does not know how to handle bullies and the school is apparently full of them. I’d hear stories from my son nearly every week about a mean kid.

I don’t want anyone to feel like I am blaming schools or teachers for failing our students. I admire so many teachers, Mr. Teacher being one of them. There have been a handful of teachers in my life that have really inspired me.

For my family, homeschooling is the path we will be taking in the coming school year. I am very excited - today I have put in my order for the supplies we will need for next year. I just hope that a year from now I am not ripping my hair out.