Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Our homeschool adventure starts now . . .

Since our kiddo was born, I knew that there was a part of me that was going to wish to homeschool her.  The decision was a hard one, thought out over the years in which I have gone back and forth trying to decide if it was the right thing for our family. For the past couple of years we have "unofficially" been homeschooling her. In other words, because of her age and laws we did not have to report to any school district in our decision to homeschool. This year, we must. So with my LOI (Letter of Intent) completed we are officially starting on our homeschool journey.

I know that we are going to have an adventure. There are times when things are going to get tough, but we are in it for the long haul. Our little girl has a thirst for learning new things, she is always on the go. She loves art, she loves music, she is really starting to love reading. 

Yes, there have been a lot of naysayers who have voiced their opinion in this and truthfully, I haven't had much support from family at all on it. People think that I am going to "ruin" her. Shelter her from life, shelter her from people that she won't learn unless she is in a classroom setting. They think that the only place that you can learn is sitting in a building with 30 or so of kids your age, with a teacher in front for 8 hours a day. That isn't learning, life is learning. Getting to experience life is learning. Being out in the world.

They think she won't be social, at all. This is one of their biggest arguments. That she won't have friends. My gosh, she is friends with everyone she meets. She loves playing with kids at the playground. She has no problem talking to adults (when we are around obviously), she isn't sheltered. 

I have quite a few reasons on why I wanted to go this route. I can't pinpoint it to just one that sent me over the edge to make us take this leap. Do I think I can teach her more or that she will learn more from me? Maybe. School shootings? Yeah, that could have had a part in it, but that can happen anywhere in this crazy world. Believe it or not, religion has played no part in this decision. Don't get me wrong, I believe in the man upstairs and talk to him on a regular basis, but I believe that HE hears me just as loud and clear from my own home as HE would in a church setting. I know a lot of homeschoolers homeschool for religious reasons, but not this family. 

So, we are off on our adventure. And, it is going to be adventure. Is she ready for it? Heck, am I ready for it? Only time will tell.

Onto the next chapter . . . .

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