1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
After A LOT of prayer, consideration, thinking, and going back-and-forth, we have decided not to homeschool this year.
When we started this journey, it was never our intention to graduate the boys through homeschool. We always took our decision making year by year. It took a long time to be at peace with this decision, but I am finally there. I agree with Jeff that this will be the perfect year to give the school system a try.
This school year, Will is entering 5th grade so this will give him an opportunity to be a "big fish" in a "little pond". It will also give him an opportunity to make friends before moving up to middle school (assuming he continues in the public school system).
Nathan is entering 2nd. Witt will be repeating Kindergarten (only because he's a little young).
All three will be attending the same elementary school - which will be very nice. Easy for me to drop off/pick up and comforting for them to know that their brothers are in the same building.
The boys all took the news remarkably well. We asked them what they thought about it several months ago. Then we would ask them again from time to time. We allowed them to "overhear" conversations about the decision-making process. When if finally came time to tell them that the decision was made, they were all ok with it.
Will said he thought he would have a great school year. Nathan came back about a week later saying he wanted to homeschool instead, but it was just a brief little comment and he never brought it up again. Witt is fine with it, knowing that his brothers will be in the same building.
I took them up to the elementary school when I registered them and we were allowed to walk around and take our own personal tour of the building. Will remembered a lot of it, since he attended there in Kindergarten. We saw the library, the art room, the music room, the cafeteria, the nurse's office, and the classrooms. The boys were pretty excited after the tour. :)
And what if the public school system turns out to be horrendous? Well, I know I can pull them out and immediately begin to homeschool. Our cover school has agreed to keep our family "on hold" just in case. I'd need to order a bit of curriculum, but that's easy. :)
As for me, I won't be returning to an out-of-the-house job until at least after Christmas. Jeff and I think it will be best for me to remain at home to help with the transition as much as possible. I may even do some substitute teaching after Christmas so I can work only the days I want to and still be available for school activities.
Our family life is about to change substantially really soon. I think it will be good overall. Although, a few extra prayers couldn't hurt! (Please only leave encouraging comments)
3 comments:
We have always done public school and loved it! We are in a wonderful school district and have had a great experience my advice to you...become very involved in your school. If you don't plan to work for a while, volunteer in the school classrooms, library, with your PTA (or PTO...whatever your school calls it), and any other opportunities your school presents. The more you know about your school and teachers, the better. And I love telling my kids, "be good at school, because you never know when you will see me there unexpectedly!" And it's true...I've caught some of them not being good and some of them being good :). Hope you have a good experience!
Hi,
I'm Janelle's sister, Tammy. I have both homeschooled and public schooled with my 5 kids. My kids have transitioned back and forth really well. Both ways have pros and cons, and overall, I've been glad to have done both. I feel like they get things from the public school that I can't provide. They also get things from the homeschooling experience that the public school can't provide and I can't provide if they are in school due to lack of time. We reassess each year and decide what each child seems to need for any given year. Good luck and best wishes for a great year! Tammy
Thank you both so much for your comments! This was such a hard decision and I am thankful to hear positive things about public schools! :)
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