It's pretty hard to believe we are about to begin our fifth year of homeschooling around here. Although I never really had plans to change my mind once I made the decision to keep Philip home, it still makes me proud to acknowledge how far we've made it, despite the doubts and fears that plagued me in the early days of teaching my child at home.
This definitely isn't for everyone.
I never know how to respond to the comments I get from non-homeschooling parents. Things like, "Oh, I could never do that; I'm not patient enough," or "my kids wouldn't listen to me." Really, what can you say to that without coming off as boastful or self-deprecating (I err on the latter). I haven't figured it out.
Maybe I just need to start accepting it as a compliment. Perhaps I am made of sterner stuff.
Year five is about to help me find out.
This year we are embarking upon our third year of Classical Conversations with me at the helm of my own classroom. I'll be tutoring the 7-8 year old classroom of which Andrew will be a member. I'm excited and also apprehensive. Part of me wishes I had waited another year, another part of me is eager to get my feet wet in the world of tutoring, a path I hope to see through all the way into Challenge directing.
I'm so excited to be on the path of learning with my children, even on the hard days. Redeeming my own education has been an unexpected benefit of homeschooling, one I didn't include in my list of pros and cons when I was wrestling with the decision to embark upon this journey four years ago. With each year that passes, I am more confident in our choice to provide a home-centered education for our kids, and less anxious with thoughts of inadequacy and deprivation.
Homeschooling has given us all a space in which to blossom.
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