Friday, September 9, 2011

We are.....

Some have already heard the news, but it aint official unless you blog about it right?!
No we are not pregnant.... even though we would love to be
Our family is taking on a new chapter in life
We have decided to start homeschooling! Some of you are going... um what???
Yes that's right, we are now a homeschooling family and this is how we got there.....

Josephs first day of school went really well. He loved playing with new friends and I loved having time during the day to get house work done, laundry folded and errands marked off my list. It was great while it lasted.
The second, third and fourth day were not so good. It was brought to our attention how much further behind Joseph was than the rest of the class. As a mother, this was very hard to hear. You think your child is a genius because of what he can do at home. Then you stick him in a room with others and you start to compare him to everyone else. (which most of us as adults do way too often). Yes Joseph is smart, there is nothing wrong with him.The public school setting just wasn't a good fit for OUR 5 year old.
Not sure of what to do, I sought advice from the people that matter most in my life. I was in tears for 2 days trying to figure out what to do. I felt like I was pushing him to do something he did not like. I was making him feel left out in class when he didn't know an answer. I knew that is not what I would want and not what I should be doing. After a wonderful conversation with my sister in law Anne, I knew what I had to do. It was plain and simple.... pull him from public school.
After making that decision, we were ready to start homeschooling right? well easier said than done... Most families have months to prepare the years curriculum and schedules, I had 2 weeks. So the journey began. We moved our whole house around that weekend and made a school room. I was excited! I cleaned the room, painted twice, moved furniture in and out, gathered all of my craft supplies, made many trips to wal mart and ordered tons of homeschooling stuff online.  The past 2 weeks have been full of organizing, cleaning and lots of reading.
I had never planned to home school, but God has put us on this path for a reason and I am beginning to understand why.
Here are a few pictures of the new school room/mommas craft room!