WRITTEN OCTOBER - 2013
Well, we did it. We took the plunge! We have started McLain Institute of Technology (aka “MIT”). Two boys, one mommy, and one daddy who helps when he can (I write this after he just worked 87.5 hours last week, yet still had time to review Cub Scouts and Awana with both boys, plus do a few online lessons with our Kinderkid). Can’t forget the grandparents who are excellent at contributing to the extracurricular activities and moral support of the educators! When I say we started, I mean we JUST started… like last week. So, I will be trying to write on here and spare my Facebook friends of the home school details as much as I can.
The first thing we have learned about home schooling is that people ask “why” pretty quickly. The short answer is that we are homeschooling because it is what we have decided is best for our family. That's the answer we have been told by other homeschoolers to use when asked. It saves arguments, explanations, excuses, etc. Not everyone understands our choices, nor do they need to.
The medium-length answer is that it is what is best for our oldest son (now a first grader), Aidan, and our family. We are not happy with the school options we have here in
Raleigh, NC. Yes, it is the 6th largest school district in the nation, but we have found that isn't always a positive thing. Our "base school" was not up to par, with many issues of its’ own, including low scores, low ratings, overfull classes, and more. That was Kindergarten. We switched him to a different school, a magnet, when he started first grade this August. It was our 5th choice school, and only on the list to get us out of our base school. We like the concept they switched to this year, a Leadership and
Language Academy, based on Stephen Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Effective People", but when they went magnet, they became an "overflow" school and took on those problems, plus the ones they already had. PLUS, Aidan went from loving math to hating it in just one month. Not good for a kid who claims he was "born to build" and has wanted to be a builder/engineer since he could talk and tell us. He also started having some social anxieties and separation anxiety, which he never had until starting public school. Yes, we tried looking at other schools as an option. The “good schools” that are public in our area are mostly capped, hard to get in to. The Magnets (which are still public) are the same. The Charters are limited and also hard to get in to. So, we made the decision that was best for our son and family...
The long answer is all of the above, plus since before putting our oldest son (now about to turn 7) in Kindergarten last year, we battled with the decision of whether to home school or not. I home schooled his preschool on and off, learning while doing it that he has a mind that keeps on going and doesn't ever think small. This scared me so I wanted to try and have someone “more patient” work with him. I learned that I can't let it scare me and need to let his mind grow and I'll just try and keep up. I also learned that no one will be as patient with my kid as I will. His Dad and I have his best interest in mind, not someone who has 24 other students to worry about.
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| Because Building Makes Our World Go 'Round (also pajama day) |
I don't home school to make geniuses that can speak 6 languages by the age of 3, or read The Iliad by 5… I home school to help my children become the best them they can be, hopefully. I home school to nurture their minds, not hinder them. I home school to keep them interested in learning. I home school to help them find what makes them who they are but better. I home school to help Aidan “build” his mind. I home school Noah to help him find what interests him most. I home school to use the tools that peak my children’s interest. I home school to teach them God comes first.
I’ve always admired home school moms. I’ve categorized those moms in a league of their own. Have always said that I can tell a “home school mom” apart from others because they are more patient, more calm, use everything as a life lesson, speak kinder to their children, softer to their children, have better behaved children. They have an air about them, are closer to God, have a “home school glow”… and so on. I’m not one of those moms. I’m not patient. I’m not calm. I don’t glow. Right now I just pray. A
LOT. And I pray mostly for grace. Because I could tell before we got on this ride that it’s going to take grace to get every one in my family, ESPECIALLY ME, through this. But it is what is best for our family.
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| MIT School Room |
So, here we are, the beginning of October, 2013. We have a 1
st grader in MIT, and have advanced Noah to Kindergarten.
North Carolina wouldn’t put Noah in Kindergarten until next year, but he is basically where Aidan was with his reading and math when Aidan started Kindergarten, so we are trying to have Noah in Kindergarten. We will see how that goes. I was planning on having both boys do their Bible study, Science, Art, Architecture, and Music together and have them do their Reading/Writing and Math separately. Noah is insisting on doing everything Aidan does. So, I am letting him do it at his pace for now. Considering there is much review in the curriculum for Aidan right now, Noah can follow along pretty well however I’m guessing that there will wind up being more of a gap between them in upcoming weeks. As I’ve been told “it’s a lot of trial and adjustment” to home school your kids and at some point you realize, somewhere along the line, you got it right. I’m hoping that is the case.
So for now, we start MIT with a lot of prayer. We pray for:
· GRACE
· Patience
· Obedience
· Wisdom
· And that I don’t screw up my kids too far beyond God’s ability to repair
Feel free to pray for our family too! This is what is best for our family.
