So back in December of 2013 we made the decision to pull Duncan, Maxwell and Laurel out of the Montessori charter school they were attending. I really loved the school and their teachers and all of the friends we made there but I knew it was time to take the leap and start homeschooling the kids. It is something we had talked about years earlier before the kids had started school. I told myself when Laurel was to start Kindergarten I would do it. That time came and went and I felt I just didn't have it in me. I had 5 kids and I thought my patience was worn too thin. Then at the beginning of Decmeber, things just started adding up...
It took a good 20 minutes to drive from our house to drop them off at school. That is 20 minutes there, 20 minutes back, 2 times a day.... that is a lot of driving time and a lot of gas and a ton of money spent on gas!
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The mad crazy rush to get out the door in the morning was getting to me. I turned into a complete crazy person trying to make sure everyone was on track to leave so they wouldn't be late. That's not how the kids should start their day!
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Laurel didn't want to go anymore. She would literally not let go of my hand when I walked her to the classroom. And she LOVED her teachers. They were Duncan and Maxwell's kinder teachers. We had seen them almost every school day for the last three school years. It broke my heart to pry her hand off of mine and force her to go into her classroom.
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Duncan wasn't enjoying class anymore. We thought it was because all of his buddies moved up to fourth grade. He was a third grader in a 1/2/3 class (the way most montessori schools are) and was bored. He had a wonderful teacher, yet there were so many kids in the class that needed more specialized attention. Erghe and I felt that he would be better off at home learning at his own pace and able to explore his own interests and not be on anyone else's schedule.
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and so in about two weeks time we pulled them out of the school and made the leap into homeschooling. I let Erghe take the reign and order all of the curriculum as I was overwhelmed just thinking about it. Those first 5 months were something else. I very much enjoyed not having to wake up early, pack three lunches and do that crazy dash out the door and make the commute. It was wonderful having to not be on anyone else's schedule and knowing that my kids were where they wanted to be too.
We have had our share of rough days - days when no one wanted to do school work, days when all they did were annoy and argue with each other, and days where nothing seemed to go right. But the good days far outweigh the bad. I love being my kids' teacher. I love having the freedom to choose what they study. I love the freedom they have at home - the freedom to explore, to play, to be kids!
Over the past 9 months we have homeschooled I have changed curriculum, changed our daily routines, changed our homeschool room around and done a lot of adjustments to my expectations. I love the flexibility we have and love that we can skip a school day if we need to. I know I will continue to make changes and adjustments around here as needed and as we grow. I don't ever doubt that our decision was the best one for our family. I do have days though were I miss the social interaction I had when taking the kids to school. I was very involved and helped out with school activities. It was a major reason for waiting to take the leap for as long as I did. How selfish of me. But here we are Duncan is in 4th grade, Maxwell is in 3rd grade and Laurel is in 1st grade. I love watching them learn new things. It amazes me how different each one of their learning styles are. I have had to take a step back on really look at what is best for them. I want them to be life-long learners and enjoy these years at home being with me. I hope that once they are older they can look back and appreciate their education and the time spent with their siblings.
I look forward to posting more soon about our homeschool space, our curriculum and the kids daily work plans.
