I was working full time when our first son was born. My husband had mentioned that he would like for me to be able to stay home and homeschool. I loved the idea of being home with him. Homeschooling on the other hand……. I couldn’t do that. Hell no. I wouldn’t know how.
Fast forward a couple of years and an opportunity came up for me to be able to stay home with him finally. It was great! I hated having to leave him as a baby everyday. We played with toys, read tons of books, colored, played with puzzles, watched Sesame Street. I watched my friend’s son a few days a week and he was only 9 months older than Marshall. They had a blast (most of the time anyway).
Marshall learned colors and most letter names by 3. So one day when he was maybe 3 1/2, I came across a School Zone preschool workbook. I thought why not, he’s getting close to that age. I would just put it up for later. He saw it sitting on the table and wanted to see it. When he saw what it was, he wanted to play in it. So we sat down and I explained what it wanted on the pages. He loved it and breezed through it!
Once I thought he had mastered that, I bought him a kindergarten workbook. Then books with mazes since he loved those. Dot-to-dots. Kindergarten computer games. Apps on my e-reader. He absolutely loved numbers. By the time he was 4 years old, he was adding and subtracting in his head. “If I have 5 cookies and Grandma eats 3 cookies, then I have 2 cookies left!” One of his favorite games to play in the car was the word problems like this.
I started thinking, maybe I can homeschool. He’s doing great so far. Let’s do it! There was some concern from two family members. One couldn’t tell us why it was a bad decision, it just was. The other’s reason was because he should have fun playing with other kids. Great point! We all know the main reason kids go to a physical school is to play with other kids. *eyeroll*
Years later, Marshall isn’t quite as enthusiastic about school. When he complains too much, I just tell him I’ll send him to school then. After that he quits complaining because he knows he likes being able to stay home and do school (and sleep in). He still gets to play with friends and family. We meet with a homeschool group for trips and park play when we get a chance (we’ve only had one vehicle for a year or so now). The family members that complained haven’t complained for a while now.
Some days are easy. Some are extremely challenging with trying to make time for each kid, school work, cooking, cleaning, me time (hahahahaha!), getting out of the house, ect. Overall, it is completely worth it. It may drive me crazy from time to time, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The Average Homeschooler 