Children and Choices

With Ethan nearing the end of his preschool years in just a couple of months, a lot of thoughts have crossed my mind.  Are we going to put him in public school?  If so, which school?  Should we homeschool?  What about homelink?  What if we keep him in his private school in Kindergarten--could we afford it?  What about Northwest Christian?  Ahhhh!!  My mom tells me I am thinking too hard and I should just put him in public school.  I, however, disagree.  The problem is that aside from me working with the boys here at home, reading, flashcards, fun crafts, library visits, etc. Ethan has attended preschool for 2-1/2 years, this year being in a Kindergarten combo class.  He only attends school 3 days a week from 8:30 to noon but he has acheived so much and just seems to be flourishing in the environment he is in.  One teacher to 5-7 students (depending on the day).  My fear is that he will be bored attending Kindergarten next year which could result in goofing off or other distracting behavior.  As much as we would love to keep Ethan at the school he is attending now, there is just no way we could afford the monthly tuition, same goes for Northwest Christian.  The next option? Homeschooling through HomeLink  For those of you who do not know what the HomeLink program is, it is a Parent Partnership Program where parents of home schooled children and teachers from the school district work together to define the educational goals and materials parents and students use at home. They offer "enrichment classes" on campus, everything from adventure reading and creative writing to Tae Kwan Do and cooking classes, sign language, violin, ballet, etc. which are available to take during each semester.  Now before you give me your negative opinions about the option of homeschooling (which I am already hearing with even the thought of homeschooling), I encourage you to read up on the advantages of homeschooling in this day and age and to take a look at some of the studies and statistics available.  When we were in school, the homeschooled kids were dubbed as "the weird kids" who were lacking social skills and it seems as though we still have that stuck in our minds whenever someone mentions homeschooling.  Why are we considering the option of homeschooling?  After seeing how much Ethan has learned this school year in the small classroom setting, we feel that homeschooling would give us the advantage of being able to challenge Ethan when he needs to be challenged and also really focus on any areas he may struggle in.  It is NOT to shelter him from the real world as people have said.  My kids are just as likely to pick up bad habits/behaviors from hanging around my own family, and even just running everyday errands we are faced with many less than ideal behaviors, words, etc.  Don't get me wrong, part of me does feel the public school setting provides a supersized opportunity for bad language, behavior, etc. which I would like to keep my kids from--what parent wouldn't?  I have spoken to many parents of students in the public schools around here and have gotten more negative than positive feedback.  How could I be comfortable sending our children to school all day with feedback like that when I have the opportunity as a stay-at home mom to do it myself?  I understand that not all schools are like this and I do not frown upon people who do send their kids to public school; homeschooling isn't for everyone.    I have done a lot of soul-searching, reading, brain-picking (thanks Robyn and Rachell!) and we just feel that this is the best option for our children.  We feel the kids will be getting the best of both worlds, a focused education at home as well as extracirricular classes on campus.  This decision is going to be difficult for some people to digest, I know. Especially family members who work in the school system. I just hope and pray that our decision is supported regardless of personal opinions. As for my reading material, I just finished reading "Bringing Up Boys, by Dr. James Dobson and highly recommend it for those with sons.

Not only is there a wealth of information regarding how boys differ from girls in everything from learning to play but there is also a great deal of information regarding education, public, private and at home.  The next book on my list, which I just started yesterday is "The Well Trained Mind".  This book was recommended to me by one of my best friends, who homeschools one of her daughters currently and is also going to homeschool her other daughter next school year.  She has given me first-hand advice from her experience with a child in public school and a child at home (in another state!) 

Please understand that our decision is just that our decision and is not to discredit the hard working teachers who really do not get paid enough for the amazing work they do.  This next school year will be a true test of whether or not homeschooling is right for our children.  We have discussed the option with Ethan, on multiple occasions, even while at the elementary school he would attend should we choose public school and his answer has continued to be "school at home".  So what's next?  I have already met with the HomeLink director and gotten on the waiting list (yes, there is a waiting list as there are over 500 students currently in the program).  I will know by next month if we are "in" for sure but was told she was pretty certain there would be room for him.  We are very excited and can't wait to see how it goes!