Today is the last day of school for the kids. Ellie, 3rd & Jack, 1st. And if the Lord wills it, this is the last day of public school for them. Bitter sweet. There are things about public school that I'm sure we will all miss. Fun projects, new friendships, school lunch, neat teachers, recess & time away from home!
Today is also the last day of official daycare for Amelia & Evelyn. They've spent the past 2+ years on and off at Jessica Leeds house. And even though we'll still get together with her family and she might watch them here and there ... we really are done with daycare!
I'm trying to find the right words that express my inner most feelings. Excitement. Possibility. Hope. Fear. Insecurity. Overwhelming responsibility.
Looking at these, I'm sure these are feelings any parent has on any given day. So what makes this day so special? Why do I feel a new sort of heightened sense of stirring within me? The reality that it's really here? The extra responsibility that comes with not only molding & shaping your children, but now teaching them how to read too?! That seems so silly written out like that. So I've spent the past 4 years sending my children to someone else to be responsible for teaching them. Don't parents want their children to be that we want them to be? Or what they are meant to be. Not what others expect them to be? Or what peers and other parents (teachers) mold them to be.
I met with Ellie's teacher the other day to get some advice on what type of student Ellie is, what motivates her in the classroom, etc, because I'm pretty sure Mrs Hedges spent more time with my daughter than I did this year. Or maybe not Mrs Hedges alone, but the staff as a whole at Ballard East. That makes my tummy hurt. She leaves the house everyday at 7:30 and returns at 3:30 -- that's 8 hours of the day. If she and I are both home that evening, that is 5 hrs. Most nights she or I are off doing something else. I'm at bible study, she's at dance, I'm at a meeting, she's at her dad's. That leaves me the weekend to catch up. Which again, won't happen because of work commitments, co-parenting, and the like. I guess it's better than boarding school.
I know that God has created in me a vast feeling of responsibility to be the one to care for, teach, discipline, play with and shape my children. And, on the other hand, has not created that in others. Which is why everyone has a right to educate their children accordingly. Sadly, it's not shocking to me, but should be, the reactions that I have gotten over my decision to home school. Some good. Some bad. But reaction nonetheless. It's almost like I'm packing up the whole family to go live in Africa (which if one feels the Spirit call, pack on!).
It's home school. It's not foreign. There are millions of families that do it. It's not forever. It's a God-given blessing and a right as a parent. My kids won't become anti-social and weird. Those types of kids are at public school too. And what is your definition of weird? I don't want "normal" kids. They do stupid crap to fit in. I want children that create their own path (and for those of you that know me, that's not a surprise!) You should be the people that are like, "Oh, of course Deanna would home school. It's outside of the box."
We will have year-round school here at our house. It gives us something to do when it's blistering hot or rainy outside in the summer, and it gives us more flexibility during the traditional school years to take days off, travel, or relax. We will start school on June 4, so the kids have about a week to chill before we dive in. Which means I have about a week to get a few more of my ducks in a row. So I should probably sign off and go do that stuff.
