Some already know, many do not, but a big change happened in our house about 3 weeks ago. It has been extremely positive for all of us and we do not, in any way, see this as giving up or surrendering. Korben started attending Private School at our church and is loving it. The decision was extremely difficult for us, but we are all happy with it! To those who were against us homeschooling or had their concerns and/or doubts, we do not, in any way what so ever, see this as a failure. In fact, our experience with homeschooling was such a tremendous blessing to our family as a whole, and to the kids individually. Korben was assessed at a second grade level and we were even offered to place him directly into second grade, but we felt that maturity-wise, he should be with his peers for the time being. He may be able to skip a grade next year, or attend advanced classes per the principal's assessment.
Our decision, therefore, was no based on being unable to do it. It was, based upon me feeling stretched too thin between schooling Korben and devoting enough attention to our other three. The main comments we are receiving from people about this is their happiness that Korben can now learn to socialize and how to act in a group of his peers. This makes Brody and I giggle a bit because already, he is one of the most well-behaved kids in his class and has never had to be asked to raise his hand or wait his turn. He is enjoying the amount of time he does have with his friends now, though. We also had many people call Korben or ask Korben about his "first day of school". Brody and I have tried to hold back a bit in regards to this comment as he and I both know, his first day of school was back in August!
Every day he tells me he loves going to school, but already he has asked if we can homeschool for next year. We have enrolled both Korben and Eli for the next school year, but we will not push the idea of homeschooling away for good. For now, we think we will wait to revisit that option once the girls are school-aged. Until then, it is much more quiet at our house, but we all enjoy doing school pick-up and seeing Korben's sweet face after being away from him for 7 long hours!
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2 comments:
Awww! I am proud of you for standing up for your convictions. I hope people in your life have not given you too hard of a time about this, you definitely didn't fail- you are brave for trying and succeeding in educating him for as long as you did this year! I have no idea how you did it with three other children- I can barely "educate" my two littles! I know how hard that decision must have been for you, especially since you are an excellent educator! I hate putting Kate on the big, yellow bus each morning because it means our days are not spent together- but she is getting a high-quality education that I would not be able to give her here, especially when it comes to all of the Bible things she is learning. I do not have the understanding, being a "baby" Christian myself. She is teaching ME about God and the Bible. But it is hard, no matter where they go to school. I am so glad he likes it!
Anyway, I'd love to hear about your decision making process in regards to keeping him in K when the teachers recommend putting him ahead. We are being encouraged, but more like "pushed" to put Hannah in kindergarten next year, and she is not five until November. I say NO. I want her here with me as long as I can have her. ;) We should have coffee sometime!
I think one of the reasons we "crazy" homeschoolers choose to homeschool is because we feel it is the best decision for our families at that time. When circumstances change, it's ok to re-evaluate. Congrats on making a new brave decision! I'm sure it was not an easy call to make. The fact that Korben tested into 2nd grade is a remarkable testimony to the work you were doing with him. Good work, Mama! I'll be praying for you guys during this transition. Hopefully we can get together one of these days!
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