I find it absolutely fascinating that one of the best things to happen to us came about due to one of the hardest and scariest things. I have always loved the idea of homeschool. The freedom. The simplistic nature of teaching ones own children in the home. The reduced pressure to excel at tests, get good grades, and perform according to societies' standards. The ability to choose what and how we learn. I always wanted to try to homeschool, but the idea of starting fresh and leaving the public school system sounded so scary. Change is hard for me, and I never had the guts to just do it! Then, the pandemic hit and I felt so utterly helpless. Online school was overwhelming and frankly disappointing. The unknown of when the next school closure would happen gave me great anxiety. I couldn't change the pandemic, I thought. I had no power over school closures, online learning, or how safe the schools would keep my kids from getting sick. I couldn't control the government or other people's reaction to the pandemic. However, by choosing to homeschool, I suddenly got my power back. It was as simple as that, and really the entire reason why I pulled my kids from school. Once I decided to just do it, my soul was at peace. I was so excited to start this new adventure. I immediately started getting the basement ready. I spent hours researching curriculum and "How to" homeschool. It was overwhelming, but so much fun. The preparation to homeschool really distracted me from the crazy happenings outside my home. Inside, life felt safe. I felt inadequate and frustrated at times with the Pinterest perfect homeschool moms I saw online and this unattainable ideal of what my homeschooling experience should look like. However, when I stoped comparing, and now that I can look back on my experience, homeschooling came really easily to me. I overdid it, no doubt. It was exhausting. We had long days, often equivalent to a typical school day. I put way too much pressure on myself to make sure my boys were learning everything they "should" be. Yes, I wish I could go back and tell myself to not stress so much, but I'm pretty proud of myself for providing a great homeschool experience, considering all that was going on. Our home was a little oasis of love and safety. We practiced mindfulness each morning. We went on lots of field trips. We had the best science curriculum and had so much fun leaning together. It was an incredibly rewarding experience. I loved teaching my boys and sharing my passions with them. It was so amazing watching my boys grow, and learn, and excel on all their standardized testing. Knowing I was guiding them and sheltering them from the pandemic and the unknowns happening in the public schools made all the stress of it worth it. Two years later I look back on this school year with so much fondness. What amazing memories we made and what an incredibly fun adventure it was.
We homeschooled through a local hybrid charter, so most of our curriculum was provided by the school. I got to select what I wanted, and they covered the costs. They also had a once-a-week class my boys got to attend, which provided a little bit of socialization for them, and a break for me. It was a great program, and I feel so incredibly lucky to have found it.
First day of class for my boys!
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