Lately I've had sad thoughts about the upcoming first day of school. I have always had visions of my/our kids going off to school with their uniforms on or in their new clothes, sporting new shoes, a lunch box and a backpack. And me waving from nearby as they walk into their classroom with their teacher for the year. This is what I did and what I thought my kids should do too. But over the last couple of years (really, since he was born), Corey and I have been talking about schooling for Ben and trying to find the right fit for him, us, our family, our lifestyle, and our budget.
We checked out several different schools and while they were all wonderful, they weren't the right fit for us. One too strict, one too lenient, one expensive, and another way too expensive. It led us down the path to homeschooling our kids. We have loved the journey to realizing that we can do it. This is right for us. I'm a teacher after all. So we looked into charter schools that cater to homeschoolers and decided that while the classes and extra activities that they offer are great opportunities for some families, we didn't like the testing they do. We didn't want to deal with turning packets in every month just so that they can collect their fees and look accountable to their 'higher-ups'. So we are going to file a private school affidavit (as mentioned here) to open our own private school in October and we're going to teach them at home. We are very happy about the possibility and opportunity to continue to teach our children. We believe that it is the best fit for our family, children, lifestyle and budget!
I am always telling people that it isn't a plan that is set in stone. I would love to teach them until they decide that they (if they decide to) want to go to school. That will be the day that I might shed a few tears watching them go into the classroom with their teacher for the year.
So I'm off to make lesson plans for our first week!
