Yea, you heard me right. I said it, homeschool! I have been thinking about it all year. Well, maybe most of the year, since Paul has been having a very hard year at school. Today I pulled him out and am going to finish the year by homeschooling him. Honestly, it was a hard, scary, nerve racking decision to make. I NEVER thought I would homeschool my kids. Times are changing. And I'm changing with it. I think homeschooled kids have such great curriculum's and opportunities to interact with other kids that it is going to be awesome.
You may wonder why? What changed my mind? It probably started with Paul coming home crying at least once a week. He continually complained about the swearing. Then I went to lunch with him and watched him sit by himself. He didn't sit by any of the boys or the girls. He sat by himself. I went to his class and within 3 min heard the Lord's name in vain by one of the kids. OMG is thrown around like candy-people don't even consider it a swear word anymore and that really ticks me off. It's not the school. His school is awesome. It's not his teacher- she is great. I hate to say this, but it's the kids. Maybe it was a few kids, maybe most the class, but it just wasn't working. From Paul's description they are a bunch of crude, swearing, disrespectful, joking around kids. Is it the class? The age? The grade? Florida? What is going on with kids? I didn't hear kids swearing till 7th grade when I was a kid! What have you guys found with 5th graders? Do kids everywhere act like this? I feel bad for the teachers if they do!
The bottom line is I really don't want him going to Junior High next year. I think it's going to get worse before it gets better. I figured I would pull him out now to see what I think about homeschooling before next year starts. I can get used to it so I won't be so nervous for next year. I want to be sure that I know what I am doing before I pull him out for a whole year. He has taken his FCAT's for the year. There is only a month of school left- so I felt it gives me the perfect time to get my feet wet.
Each year, each child, will be different. I will just play it by the year.
I think I am going to love it. or hate it. lol I guess we will see.
Good luck Emily--It is just best to follow your feelings--you'll do great and I'm sure have some amazing field trips in Florida--your other kids will want to be homeschooled, too!! When I homeschooled Peter for half of the year--it was hard, but I dont' think it is something that you will ever regret--spending quality time with your kids. You helped homeschool Peter too, so you'll do a great job!
ReplyDeletePaul is such a sweet kid!! It's heartbreaking that he is struggling and it's because of the kids. good luck in your new adventure!!! That takes courage from you and I am so excited for you. My friend does homeschooling, here is her blog info, hopefully you will enjoy it and it can help. http://4littlepiglets.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteHey you'll have to let me know how you like it. Makayla has come home the past month and a half or so complaining about mean girls. She has been repeatedly hurt by these girls and she doesn't have a close friend. I worry about middle school for her next year. Especially going in with no solid friendship with someone who uplifts her. She came home the other day asking to be homeschooled and I froze. I've never even contemplated it!
ReplyDeleteBeing in Young Women's we've asked the girls what some of the biggest issues are. They've all said that swearing is a huge problem and they NEVER go a day without hearing it multiple times. They've even mentioned being de-sensitized to it now and I don't want that happening to my kids. I still want them to be uncomfortable hearing it. Some of the older girls have mentioned that high school is way better than middle school. I just don't know!! You should move here and we can home school our kids together!!
Good for you for going with your gut! I homeschooled Ruby for the last semester in 6th grade because the teacher had no control over the class and it stressed Ruby out. We had so much fun! We studied a ton of stuff and still had a lot of free time. You and Paul, just have fun with it. Go on lots of field trips. With Ruby, the curriculum was so broad, we could do whatever we wanted to, and there was nobody to answer to, no tests to take or anything. Scary, but good. I have a friend who is an expert if you want to talk to her! Have fun!
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