As many of you know, I home school my son who will be starting 6th grade next month. I can't believe that 6 years have gone by since that dreaded "first day of school" experience. We were all so excited (well, I was sort of excited) about our son starting kindergarten. After all, his dad was a teacher there, his sister was a 7th grader there and I had spent almost every day at the school since he was born, either working in the classroom, helping with lunch duty or just attending school events. He knew all the teachers, and most of the students and a lot of the parents.
He woke up his first day of school and got dressed in his cute little uniform and off to school we went. I tried really hard to hold in my tears and emotions and pretend to be excited for him. He was quiet and somber and looked so sad as he stayed in the classroom watching me and his grama walk away. When I picked him up at noon the first day, he didn't say a word. I took him to Jack in the Box and anxiously asked him about his day but he just sat there shrugging his shoulders. The next day was no better. He didn't want to eat, didn't want to talk and when it was time to go to the classroom, he cried. The teacher tried to pull him in and I was telling her to wait so I could calm him down. I didn't want to leave him crying. She pulled him one way and I pulled him another. Eventually, he came home with me. The third day, after 2 days of not eating and not talking, we never even made it out of the car. As we pulled into the school parking lot, he cried and said he wanted to go home. I tried to tell him how exciting school was going to be but all I could see was his sad face and those big crocodile tears. I called my husband on the phone and he walked out to the car, tried to talk to my son and finally said, "Take him home."
That afternoon, when my husband came home, he announced to me that I would be homeschooling our son. What!!! I wasn't a teacher. I didn't know the first thing about teaching. He found a school online and signed us up. A week later, UPS dropped off 4 boxes of materials. My son was so excited to see all his new school stuff. He didn't care how much work he had to do, he was just excited to get started! That was 6 years ago and now, he is just as excited about his UPS deliveries as he was then.
He can't wait to open those boxes and see what the year has in store for him. I must say that I was very reluctant about homeschooling and although, it's no piece of cake, I have thoroughly enjoyed the last 6 years. People ask me every year when I'm going to stop and send him to school and every year, I say when he decides. He is an excellent student and has scored extremely high in his STAR testing every year. He does fine socially and has no problem joining in groups with other children.
Homeschooling for us has given us the freedom to spend more time together, work longer on subjects that he struggles with and really take the time to teach in a way that he understands. We research things he has questions about, and we can find ways in everyday life to incorporate what we've learned. I hope that these school days will become fond memories for my son. I think the hardest part is following my heart and to stop listening to outside influences who mean well but think they have all the answers about what's right and what's wrong.
For now, we'll enjoy what 6th grade brings and revisit the issue in the spring!
