I thought I would make a list of the things I feel very positive about as we look forward to this homeschool journey, and also a list of the things I have fears or concerns about. Positive list first!
SpeechG's speech has come so far from the days when we needed sign language for him to be able to communicate his most basic needs. His speech therapist was a miracle, and I did my best to supplement at home. I incorporated speech activities into everything from reading books to silly games I made up. Sometimes he knew he was working on his words, but most times he just thought he was having fun. What I love about the homeschooling option for G is that I can slip speech exercises right into learning about otherwise unrelated subject matter. He would not be getting that in public school. In fact, they would pull him out of his regular classes for speech, which would not only interrupt his academic schedule but also draw undue attention to him. I don't like either of those issues. And no matter how good their therapist is, no one knows his specific needs better than me, because I live with him and have been actively working to understand and help him from the time he was a baby.
Physical Education
Mostly, I think PE in schools is a joke, and not a funny one. With sensory and focus issues, a loud gym class filled with unruly Kindergartners, bright florescent lights, and lots of unpredictable movement would more than likely lead to misery, meltdowns, and extreme difficulty finding focus afterward to complete the rest of his academic day. I have some experience on this; it's not mere conjecture. I took him to a restaurant a few weeks ago where there was loud music and a lot of people moving around, and it literally took three days to get him balanced out after that. He was an overstimulated mess. Which brings me to my next issue.
Sensory Diet
At home, I can work on G's sensory diet as needed. In school, they can offer him OT (Occupational Therapy) services, but again, they are not going to be able to do as well as I can with him because I know him, and I know what produces results fast and predictably. And I can implement this as needed through his academic day, where asking his teachers to do that would be a bit of a reach. "Oh, by the way, Mrs. P., when G gets really overstimulated, you can calm him down within five minutes with tight hugs or by wrapping him up like a burrito in a blanket." Teachers just don't have the time or resources to offer than kind of individual attention in a classroom of 20 students. The other benefit is that I can monitor his progress more accurately, and the goal I am working toward is where his sensory diet includes things he can do himself to work through those times of near-meltdown. At age 5, he simply hasn't mastered it yet.
Format, Media and Environment
G loves computers, electronics, anything with buttons. He will be doing a lot of work online for his homeschooling. We can also make use of programs on PBS kids for supplemental material, trips out into the world for some hands-on experience with what we are talking about in his curriculum, and resources on the internet including educational games and YouTube's plethora of videos on just about anything you can possibly dream up. I rather like the idea of talking about history and taking a trip to a museum, or discussing the patterns of weather and actually going outside to experience it during our discussion, or going on a walk and using found objects for the day's art or science work.
Quality Time
Some parents look eagerly forward to the time their children will spend in school, away from home, affording them some free time. I have never been one of those parents. I cried after the bus left for the first few days of Kindergarten and first grade, and though my tears eventually stopped falling, the feeling of sending my daughter away for 8 hours a day just never felt right. It is not that I don't believe that developing independence is an important, perhaps critical, phase of childhood development, it's that it's such a substantial chunk of the day. I value a close family, and it seems like the traditional methods of schooling tear at the threads of the family fabric. There is such a disconnect. Further, I truly enjoy being involved in my children's learning experiences. And, well, I don't necessarily appreciate some of the things they are exposed to in public school, from bullying to some seriously wrecked (or completely absent) value systems. While first grade was nearly bully-free, Kindergarten was a nightmare of verbal and physical bullying - and the 'education' my daughter received went way beyond the classroom and my comfort level. With homeschooling, there are still plenty of social opportunities, from art classes to scouts to homeschool field trips - and we have more control over who our children interact with and what is done when problems arise.
Alrighty, then. Now, on to that less pleasant list of things that worry me.
Doing It RightThe big, looming question is...what if I screw up? I think I covered my anxieties about homeschooling fairly well in my previous post, so I won't repeat myself here. Simply stated, I worry myself about the logistics. Am I up for the challenge? This isn't a birthday party, a hairstyle, or room decor - it's their education. I place great importance on education. And while my brain tells me that homeschooling - especially in the format I've chosen after much research - is far more beneficial, I do have my own self-doubts to deal with. It is a tremendous responsibility.
Socializing
I know, I know. This is probably not as big an issue as many people make of it. Really, the only time kids are doing a lot of socializing in school is on the bus, on the playground, and in the lunch room. In reality, they would get much more interaction in personally arranged play dates, community art classes, library groups, and homeschool get-togethers. Most socialization takes place within the family. Of course, the familiarity of being with their public school peers builds a bond among friends, but it appears rare that these people end up being part of our lives once we reach adulthood anyway. More often, it is our college friends, colleagues, and 'mommy friends' who stick with us later on. I have one friend I remain in contact with from high school. The rest of my friends I met through my chosen activities, work, college, or my community. Or Facebook! Ha! But anyway, perhaps because people mention it constantly, this topic does still kind of get to me.
I guess this means my list of positives greatly overshadows the list of not-so-positives. Which I already knew, and it is why I decided to homeschool my son for sure and why I am considering homeschooling R as well. But with just over a month to go, the nerves are working overtime!
Pictured are mostly Little G's materials, but a few items of R's. In the upper photo, G poses with his phonics materials, inflatable globe, map, and some reading materials. Below we have math manipulatives, beans, grass seeds, a pile of workbooks on top of a pile of reading books, a slide whistle, a (hot pink!) tambourine, and 3-D shapes. I can't seem to stop playing with the tambourine, heh. I think we are all going to enjoy the music, even if Little G doesn't get his materials. It's not like we're going to leave him out of the fun!
