Our Story
It’s been a few years since our last kiddo graduated high school, but it seems like yesterday that we were deep in the trenches of decision.
It all started when our oldest began kindergarten at our local elementary school. From the very beginning it was heartbreaking and difficult.
He was young. A tiny 4 year old with an October birthday. (the school year started in August)
He was a baby and simply wasn’t ready. And yet, we were pushed to enroll him. So we did.
Each day, during the course of the entire school year, was filled with tears. Both his and mine.
At drop off, he begged for me to stay. He ran after me when I tried to leave. And it crushed me. I would sit in my car crying, feeling like the worst parent in the world.
I was assured that he would adjust. To give it time. Time passed, and he didn’t adjust. If anything, he progressively got worse.
I was assured that if I became a room parent, it would help. It didn’t. He clung to me in class.
Moreover, I noticed that he was a completely different child in class.
My sweet, friendly little guy was frustrated, distracted, and even fearful within the classroom walls. Even with me there beside him.
It was rough.
And all the while, I kept thinking, “This is Kindergarten! It shouldn’t be this way!”
My husband agreed.
And it was decided that our sweet boy would repeat Kindergarten.
The pressure was off. And, for the first time during this journey, we knew that it was the right choice.
But even with our newly found relief, we still had another decision to make. Should he stay within the public school system, or should we seek alternate options?
We knew that the differences between our home study time and his class time were dramatic.
He was calm, happy and attentive at home, and chaotic, upset and stressed in class.
We knew that we simply could not endure another year of public school. He was miserable. And I was defeated.
And suddenly, I remembered the words of a dear friend, given a year before : “Maybe you should think about homeschooling.”
We never once entertained the thought of homeschooling. It was completely foreign to us. But there we were, stumbling through all of the information we could find online.
For days, I soaked up everything I could regarding homeschooling. We prayed. We discussed options. And for the second time, we just knew it was the right choice. (It was totally God!)
So, we enrolled in a local charter school that offered a homeschool/class option.
When the school year started, there was a noticeable change in our son. He was happy. He was thriving. And he was making friends.
So we stayed.
Year after year.
At the beginning of each term we prayed. We prayed for direction. We prayed over curriculum. And we prayed over our family.
Time passed and each year changed and grew as we changed and grew.
Eventually we left the charter school system and I dove headfirst into independently homeschooling our brood.
This led us to co-ops, which led to me teaching classes both at co-op and within our home.
And eventually, we even welcomed a dear friend into our little homeschool and she finished out her senior year with us.
The years brought challenges, victories, immeasurable joys, and opportunities to grow. But never once did we feel led to leave.
Our guy continued to thrive. Even on the hard days. And the day he graduated was filled with many happy tears and immense pride over all he had overcome to get to that place.
Our two younger kiddos followed suit with their older brother, and because of this, they both graduated early.
Homeschooling allowed me to teach my guys in ways that they learned best.
It gave us freedom.
Freedom to grow together.
Freedom to take much needed breaks.
Freedom to choose curriculum that we loved.
Freedom to incorporate our faith into our lessons.
Freedom to do life with our schooling.
Freedom to hold my kid when he was having an exceptionally difficult day.
Freedom to be a family.
Those years may not have been in our original life plan.
But they were some of the best years of our lives!
