Four Months Out

Tomorrow marks four months since J has been in traditional school.

It's gone by really fast. I still feel a bit ass-over-tea-kettle in the planning department, but I'm hanging in there the best I can. Planning and preparation aren't necessarily hard so much as there are just a lot of moving parts to keep in the air. I can certainly see the desire, nay the need to keep everyone on the same page in a bricks & mortar school. Again, my hat is off to public school teachers.

When J first started homeschooling we said that we'd make the decision year by year. We knew the 2011-2012 academic year would be at home. We also knew he'd be at home for the 2012-2013 school year. The other day he told me he's is so much happier at home and that he'd prefer to homeschool through graduation. Of course I'll give him the freedom to change his mind, but he seems pretty adamant. We shall see.

Z has been homeschooling only since mid-February. Even though I worried about him missing out on the "fun" part of school I really think he's happier homeschooling. He still gets an attitude from time to time, but he's relaxed considerably from his time in a classroom environment. I loved his teacher. He loved his teacher. And even with all that love floating about I still think bringing him home when we did was the best choice for our family. There was nothing to be gained by keeping him in standardized testing environment. Needless stress.

The other reason I'm glad I pulled Z earlier than I had planned is because after The Test all the attention would be in the direction of the transition to middle school. We knew he wouldn't be attending the middle school so what was the point in him having to sit through the presentations and the forms and the tours. Waste of time for his situation.

I do feel a little sad when I think about the traditions that J took part in that Z won't do. On the other hand, Z is doing really cool stuff that J didn't experience when he was that age. Field trips and movies in the middle of the day. Reading on the porch swing and trying new recipes in the name of science. It's a trade off.

We are blessed.