For the last 6 months or so I have thought seriously about putting my kids back into the public school system. It wasn't because I thought that the public school system could do a better job, but because I no longer wanted the responsibility (or stress) of educating my children. For those of you who have followed this blog for a while, you know that I can be my own worst critic. And so, over time, I allowed this voice to eat away at my perceived ability (or lack there of) to educate my children in a manner that would allow them to grow to be functioning and capable members of society. It got to the point where it was a daily struggle to not feel as if I was f$%^ing my kids up terribly.
Then we moved to Oregon and in order for my kiddos to play high school sports my boys had to be tested and pass in the 23% or higher. I knew that this test would determine if I was meant to continue homeschooling all of my kids. Even though I do not agree with the way that we educate our children as a nation it is (I am learning about myself) incredibly important to me that my children can prove (via test scores) that they are thriving in the homeschooling educational model that we have chosen and can prove that we are thriving via the public schooling model of showing success. (I completely get that this really makes no sense. If I don't believe in the model of education that I went through and the majority of citizens go through why is it so important for my kids to do well on public school tests? I guess really it comes down to the fact that it will shut the naysayers up.) Anyway, I was both calm and also incredibly nervous. After all, this was a standardized test that ALL children in their grade level took. It was a public school test that was going to be administered to my homeschooled children. It is like comparing apples to oranges. Yes, they are both fruit, but they are so different from one other. I wasn't sure if my orange children could pass an apple test. I knew that the results were either going to be really good or really, really, bad. In the end, the test results ended up being really, really, really good. And that was all I needed to realize that I really can educate my children in the method and manner that I (and Bob) deem acceptable and fitting to our family. It was such an empowering moment and it was so needed for me to be able to continue home educating my children. And the thing is if we hadn't moved to Oregon I would have never tested my children on their knowledge base and I would have gone on thinking that I was a failure as a homeschooling mother when in fact quite the opposite is true. I am a great (although no where near perfect) homeschooling mama for so many reasons and there is absolutely no reason for me to beat up on myself.
I tried to get the kids into a homeschooling coop this year. There is a great one called villagehome in Portland that I was super excited about, but our family tried to sign up for 9 different classes and were wait listed for 6 of them, so we decided to forgo the coop all together and just do our own thing because that is obviously working for us. Andy and I were also talking about him taking GED in 6 months so he could begin some college courses next year, but we have decided against that as well. College will come soon enough. No need to rush through this last stage that I have with all four of my kiddos under one roof.
With all of that in mind, I have decided to cut back on all of the subjects that I was attempting to do last year. We are going to focus on the bascis: reading, writing, math, history, science. That is it. No electives. No Latin. No Spanish. No Rhetoric. None of that. And I am totally and completely ok with that. And even though that may make some people completely nervous I know without a shadow of a doubt that my kids will be okay and they will learn and thrive.
We will be starting school on Tuesday, right after Labor Day. Andy is beginning his Sophomore year, Josh his Freshman year, Sarah is beginning 6th grade, and Miss Elizabeth is beginning fourth grade. Two in high school. One in middle school. One in elementary school. Where has time gone? It goes so, so, so fast.
It is going to be a great school year. I just know it.
Life is good in Portland.
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