The family and friend response.

So with the decision to homeschool came the time to let certain friends and family members know our plans. One friend, who I love dearly, we were pregnant with our boys together, and the boys have played together since infancy; and by the way would have been in the same kindergarten class. This friend successfully completed education through the public schools in the school district that we live in. So the response was that she thinks I am crazy, and that I haven't even given the school a chance, therefore I am making an ignorant decision. DJ will miss out on socialization, he won't learn how to take turns, or how to stand in line, or how to be quiet when it's time to be quiet. I'm not going to type out the hour long debate that went down, it ended with both of us settling on "I value your opinion, but I'm going to disagree with you on this". This morning was my mother-in-law, who was already aware that if the kids went to public school at all, it would only be for elementary school. So I let her know that we had made a decision, and DJ would not be attending kindergarten in the fall. Long silence. I broke the silence by citing a few of the factors behind our choice, shortly thereafter her phone was beeping and she would have to hang up. Obviously there's no oposition from my family, as I was homeschooled successfuly. I know that this is only the beginning of defending the choice to homeschool to very well-meaning people who love our children, and happen to think I'm crazy and damning them to a life of anti-social behavior, coupled with the inability to be quiet, take turns, stand in line, hold their bladders, or sit still for the greater part of a 6 hour day. If I ever lose my sense of humor...........well let's just hope that never happens. I know there are many more questions I'll have to answer to. "What about choir, and gym class, and sports, and the prom"? I think I will be constructing a post with my answers to these, and other FAQs, if nothing else to have as a reference, or to print and hand out at family functions when I see that look on someones face. So if you have any questions yourself, or if you have suggestions for questions please comment.

...............and so we will home school

Meet DJ. DJ is 5, and would be scheduled to start formal kindergarten this fall. DJ has always been a very interesting child. He is inquisitive, imaginative, he's very interested in things that little boys are interested in, but he's very tender and sensitive as well. DJ was also blessed with the gift of gab. The child that didn't talk until he was almost 3 has not stopped since then. I have wrestled with the idea of sending DJ to school since I was pregnant with him. Getting to know him over the last 5 years has only provoked the battle that I was having. Getting DJ to sit still for longer than 2 minutes to look at a book that doesn't involve tractors, trucks, hunting, or science is near imposible. It was always a joke in the family that when DJ goes to kindergarten he probably won't know his ABCs, but he'll know how to over-haul an engine. Well guess what, DJ doesn't completely know his ABCs, and he can tell you in complete detail how combustion occurs inside of an engine, he can tell you which presidents appear on money, he explained to my mother-in-law, at 4, how evaporation occurs and the effects on the weather. It has been such an inspirational journey to watch this little guy turn into the person that he is. When the subject of enrolling him in pre-school came up I tactfully avoided it. When the subject of enrolling into Kindergarten was brought up it was time to make a decision. Everytime I thought about all these wonderful things that make up my little boy I realized that none of them fit the mold of the public school system. I was then taken back to remember a little girl who sat in the hallway and visited the principals office frequently throughout K-5, and was made to feel that voicing her ideas was bad. I was that little girl, and at the age of 27 those feelings are still just as fresh. So I constructed my case and took it to the Head of the Board, aka my husband, and the decision was made. So here we go......................