The Sad Divide!

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We are brand spanking new to all things homeschooling!

So, I write this post with caution and hope. I realise that my voice might be deamed weak and irrelevant but I write none the less.

Both Jethro and I are so excited about our homeschooling adventure which will begin next year. I have written about our reasons for bringing him home in this blog.

We have 4 beautiful sons. Two are in high school and the other two are in one of our local, government primary schools. 

We attend a church and live in a community where many people send their children to a variety of schools and many homeschool.

I teach art and am so encouraged by the variety of educational choices. Children come from the Waldorf school all the way across the spectrum to homeschool. I absolutely love these beautiful children and we do have loads of fun and good learning.

One of the deep sadness I find within the homeschooling online world and in conversation with moms from time to time, is the public negative and often misplaced critism of school. Here, I want to say that I get that a child may have had an absolutely awful, awful experience at school. I tutor children and run an ADHD support group and so really get how difficult school can be for kids and parents alike. So I recognise and acknowledge here the deep pain for families. There is much growth needed in many areas in modern schools. 

But....... we have had a very good and healthy experience in general for 3 of our boys. They are thriving and learning through all the good and the not so good. For them, the positives have far outweighed the negatives and yes, even the waiting has not been that bad. Smart, ingeneous kids find a good way to fill the gaps with reading or doing work or just being social. 

I feel that the public "dissing" of schools  actually harms the homeschooling choice.  I realise that intially a "voice" needed to be created and a space carved out for homeschooling and I really pray that that space is maintained. We are about to straddle the two words. The strangeness of that is evident. Perhaps I am the furtunate one because I get the good and bad of both and so my perspective is balanced. Ill let you know. But for now, my hope is that we can all really  work at offering grace and space for people to choose. Their is fun and a wonder in diversity!!

Where the path leads.

This is a photograph of our Jet. he has already perfected the art of homeschoolers hair!

Jethro is in Grade 4 at one of our local schools in Cape Town . He is a bright boy who is thirsty to learn and great fun to be with. 

He has ADHD. 

Distracted in his thinking continuously and always unless something grabs his interest and of course the faithful old friend of ADHD people - BOREDOM!

When ever I say this I am aware that people may misunderstand ADHD boredom. It is not that he is so super clever that the work is beneath his ability nor is it that the actual work IS boring. ADHD boredom is about interest being grabbed and held. If something is super interesting for the kid, then he or she is spellbound and it is easier on and off Ritalin to pay attention. However, if the work is not grabbing and especially if it is repetition, well then the kid is lost to an inner world of fantastic distraction.

This is our Jet.

The path we are on with him has lead us to the door of homeschooling. You can read this in my blog post here.

http://reluctancewithhope.blogspot.co.za/2016/07/i-am-reluctant-homeschooler.html

After gathering enough information from people who already home school and who have been very helpful, I took some time out yesterday to visit the Internet sites for myself.

One of the difficulties in taking a child out of school to home school, is in navigating the level of the child in an area of learning.  It is tricky beyond tricky and as all things books cost money, I would like us not to make a mistake!

So the online journey has begun.

I began with South African sites that offer different options for English, ,maths and history as an example.

The most helpful thing they offer is an assessment to gauge the level of learning. Yipeeee. stress reliever!

Now to look at what is on offer. For the most part, especially all the wonderful reading material that is linked to the lessons, I am desperate to begin - ( not only for Jet but for me too)

There is a wealth of choice and fabulous reading material to choose from. The options seem really exciting.

It is so thrilling to be embarking on this journey with this kiddo. When I explained the process thus far to him last night , his little eyes gleamed. This morning his announced, " I wish the year would go faster so we can homeschool soon."

Neither he or I really know what this is going to look like in reality, but at least we can "kind of" see a fun way forward!

The Gathering

I have arrived at a point where I think I, sort of, have a kind of handle on some of the choices available to us for homeschooling Jet next year.. I am incredibly grateful to those who have kindly given up time and patiently answered my super dumb questions.

I am sitting outside my fav high school, with the wind building a storm, and I wonder what in the world have we decided to do?

I am not one of those people who dislike, disagree with or hate mainstream schooling.
Our son has not been bullied and nor is he struggling academically.. And yet here we are.

My emotions fluctuate between absolute fear and extreme excitment.. I know the proof will be in the pudding and well love it with this kiddo..

Three observations I'll come back to again in time and reassess.

1. Homeschooling could be expensive if one is not smart.
2. The work content varies from medium to extreme as one chooses
3. It is tricky to know what to include and what to ditch..

The learning to ❤︎. Homeschooling journey continues.