I realized the other day at the eye doctor, that people say the same thing to me, when they find out that I homeschool, that I used to say when I found out that other people homeschooled. "Oh, you are so much better than I am. I could never do that."
Now, I find it hilarious, because the truth is, I can't imagine NOT homeschooling.
I do think that we are kinda conditioned to believe that homeschooling is this impossibly large task that we are ill equipped to handle. Originally, I 100% believed that.
Life has a funny way of showing you that you are definitely able to do those hard things that you doubted you had skills for.
Let's back up. Okay, so, Kolby was born on December 8, 2013. When he was 3ish we got a diagnosis of Sensory Processing Disorder and he started in Occupational Therapy. At this point in time we had no idea what life would look like. I started worrying about having to homeschool. I immediately started to convince myself that I was not able to homeschool my son.
When it was time to register for kindergarten I did some research and luckily we didn't have to stay in the district we lived in. I found a good school district about 30 minutes from home. We did kindergarten roundup and Kolby loved it. During that time they did a test to see where the kids were at.
Side note: Kindergarten is not coloring and building and playing anymore. It is basically first grade. Some of those kids already knew how to read. Like, crazy really.
Anyway, the test suggested that Kolby do this like summer program to help him get ready. We signed him up and he loved that. Couldn't wait for the school year to start. That was a great relief. I had so many nerves surrounding this. With the help of his OT we had steps and plans in place to help him thru the transition.
It helped that he had a VERY awesome teacher who was super helpful and accommodating. We had no "official" plans for additional aid, but his teacher was a huge support system from the beginning.
The year progressed and Kolby liked school for the most part. He didn't like going in the morning, (Transitions are hard) but he had no issued during the days for the most part. And he was thriving. Then in November/December he started asking me to homeschool him. Per him, kids were mean and he only really liked school because of his teacher. Of course I told him that he would be fine.
Then February 2020 came and everything changed. Suddenly I was forced into homeschooling. Or at least what I thought was homeschooling. Actually, at that point it was just trying to get a kindergartener to do virtual learning. Those are not the same thing by any means.
Kolby graduated from Kindergarten and then we, as parents, had a choice to make. The truth is we believe that Kolby was vaccine injured and that is how he came about his Sensory Issues and what-have-you. When it came to the Covid vax there were too many negatives and too many stories in general of children like Kolby that regressed after getting a vax. Kolby had made REMARKABLE strides in that last year of OT (he went from not being able to really read to a third grade reading level during his kindergarten year-this was also with the help of a speech therapist) and the thought of him possibly regressing literally kept me awake, and crying, at night.
Being a parent and knowing that the choices you make for your kids, could be the wrong ones, is so stressful. Worrying that I could make a choice that would cause him to regress was nerve wracking. So after lots of thought and talking, we decided on homeschooling.
Once I made that choice I started googling everything I could to get the most information. I found women on Instagram who homeschooled and I asked questions. I did a whole lot of prep and the first day of first grade rolled around and we did it and we have been doing it ever since. In July, we will start our 6th year of homeschooling!! And if you ask Kolby, he has no intention of going back to public school. I ask him every couple months, and every time he looks at me like I have three heads.
So much has changed in how I approach schooling now. I have learned a lot about meeting Kolby where he is at and encouraging him to learn about topics he wants to learn about. We have been through MANY curriculums and it took until a few months ago for me to find the right math curriculum for him. Now he likes to do more than one chapter a day sometimes.
And trust me that is a big deal because math is NOT this kid's favorite subject.
I have learned that I don't have to know everything before I can introduce it to Kolby. He and I can learn alongside each other. I have learned that reading is a fantastic way to teach things. Not reading from text books but reading from "regular" books. I have learned that multi-sensory approaches work best for my kid, but may not be the best for other children.
All in all, homeschooling has been a blessing in disguise. I could not imagine not homeschooling. But had it not been for a pandemic, I would have never tried it, because I had convinced myself that it was impossible for me to do, long before I even tried.
What are things that you have told yourself that you can not do? Have you tried to do them and found out that you could, in fact do them? Were you homeschooled? Do you homeschool? Join in the conversation ion the comments and let me know!!!
Speaking of schooling, I need to get our poetry/ The Raven stuff ready for tomorrow...so until next time: Remember to be kind, smile lots, and dance often!!!
