Friday 25 May 2012

God made me do it-A Homeschooling Reflection Part 1

What made me want to homeschool?  Rewind to summer 2010, before Alex's 5th grade year.  Alex had been at a sweet classical school since pre-school and it only went to the 4th grade.  He had learned so much there in such a short time, and really wanted to continue down the classical path.  Our plan was to move to another classical school in town which went from the 5th-12th grade, but it was a little more expensive.

At that time, God began tugging at me about homeschooling.  I politely ignored him, knowing that Alex and I butt heads as it is and being together 24/7 was not going to work for us.  Also knowing that there was no way I could teach in a classical format.  The things they learn were way over my head.

The school we were at got a new principal and he decided to add a 5th and 6th grade.  We were so excited and felt this was our answer.  We were going to get to stay at the school we loved and not have to pay more in tuition...and more importantly...not homeschool!   For some reason, I began to feel unsettled about our decision.  I talked to Tadd about it and he said we should schedule a meeting with the new principal and then go from there.  We did so and both felt immediately that it was not the place for us anymore.  Did I mention it is now the end of July and school is starting soon?  Yeah, last minute is the way we roll around here.

Again, the idea of homeschooling came up.  This time I mentioned it to Tadd and he had the same thought at me and said, "No way;  You and Alex would kill each other."  He confirmed my thoughts.  Subject closed.

So we quickly began the application process with the other school (not a quick process:  Fill out app, get references mailed in, testing, and interview with parents then student with the board).  We got in...yes!  So we got in just in time to get books, supplies and start school.  By Christmas, Alex was truly miserable there.  It was not a good year.  Academically (it is supposed to be very challenging), he wasn't being challenged.  He was making all As and a B with never studying.  Socially, he was thrown in half of his classes with 6th graders who had a superiority complex and treated the 5th graders like dirt.  Very nice teachers, but they were uninvolved and ignored the fact that there were some major problems there.  Including, but not limited to the fact that one kid told Alex he was going to hell because he was Catholic and "worshipped Mary."

Ok God.  Now I'll listen to you.  He obviously had a plan (duh) when he was telling me to homeschool.  So I brought it up to Tadd again and we both agreed to at least pray about it and talk to some other homeschooling families about it.  My confidence that I could do it began to grow.  And the fact that Alex was really not challenged at school made me feel that I couldn't do any worse than he was getting there.  On the other side of all of this, we were in a job situation that was making our finances very tight, so the idea of private school for the next year was not looking good.  And we were both convicted that public school at this point was not going to be what Alex needed.

So by about January, we had decided that we would homeschool the following year.  In March, Tadd got a new job that was going to move us to Birmingham.  We didn't sell our house until July and moved in August.  We literally moved the week that school started in Birmingham.  Ok God.  Maybe you do know what you are doing!  If we had not decided to homeschool, we would've not known if we would still be in Franklin or Birmingham when school started.

Moral of the Story:  Listen to God the first time he tells you to do something.

To be continued...

4 comments:

g said...

i feel like you're waiting for me to comment :)

Anonymous said...

BAHAHAHA, Gina!!!! Yes...comment!! We want to peer pressure you into homeschooling!! ;)

Donna said...

Lovin this! I'm so, so, so glad you homeschooled this year- you blessed our lives!

oneilfamily said...

You are amazing! So glad you are moving back!