School starts next Wednesday, the 27th and things are going to look very different around here. Although Joseph is 5, due to his language, I am going to hold him back from Kindergarten. (He can technically start if I wanted him to.)  He progressed so much last school year that he worked himself out of the 'special needs' preschool. Because socialization is so important for his language development, he will go to a private preschool 2 afternoons (instead of 4 afternoons like he did the previous two years at his old preschool). Jacob will be in second grade. Benjamin will be in 5th grade and instead of him moving to the middle school, I am going to home school him this year.

It is something I have considered and prayed about since March.  As I have started telling people, I get the silent 'gasp' and then "WHY are you doing THAT?" The short answer, God has made it VERY clear to me that this is the best for him, me and our family. For me not to obey that 'direction' would be wrong. I told Benjamin a few weeks ago and as expected, the initial response was not at all favorable. The second response was not good. But, as I anticipated, the longer he thought on it, and really looked at what it meant, his attitude has swung the other direction. Change is hard for him and home schooling is unfamiliar territory.

I have not been so sure and certain of a decision in a long time.  Having said that, I had not called the middle school to let them know B would not be attending.  I finally 'unenrolled' him this morning.  Later in the day I received his class schedule in the mail.  I panicked at first, as I looked at this neatly laid out schedule and wondered what I had done and if i had made a mistake.  Then I took a deep breath and reminded myself of the certainty I had with my decision, prior to this piece of mail.

There is so much curriculum out there that it is mind boggling. It was starting to stress me out, considering what the 'perfect' option was for us. So, until I have a better feel of his learning style, our new dynamics, the logistics, etc, I am going with a free online home schooling curriculum for this year. It was put together by a home schooling mom.  As she taught a certain grade to her kids, she would add it to her website.  You literally pull up the website, click on the grade, then Day 1 and all the work comes up with attached links. The gal who created the website only anticipates it taking 2-3 hours a day, so I plan on supplementing from several other websites with worksheets, reading, online videos, etc. We will be doing Math, Reading, Writing, Spelling/Grammar, Computer/Thinking, Typing and Speech. Then other subjects like History, Science, Art and Music are broken out into 4 different years. This year Benjamin chose the year that focuses on Early America (the early explorers through the Civil War) so we will study about that time period/people in those subjects. We are also doing Spanish, PE and Bible.  As we settle into a routine, I am hoping to add in some of his interests/hobbies, like cooking, photography, magic and what ever else might pique his interest.  Even if we committed one month to each area of interest, it will hopefully help him to determine if it is anything he wants to explore further.  And, if it seems too much, we can hold off on a few of the subjects like Spanish and typing.

There is so much flexibility and I think that is one thing that is exciting him.  Once we get the hang of things, we can schedule things how ever he likes.  For now, we will probably cover a certain number of subjects before he takes his short Wii/Ipad break.  Then a few more subjects before our snack break and then a few more subjects before our lunch break.  I really want to work alongside him with the Spanish and Bible class, as well as history and computer.  (Because Joseph will be home most of the time with us, I plan on setting aside small chunks of time for him to do Pre-K workbooks, etc.)

There are a myriad of ways you can get in all the instructional hours.  Benjamin can ride his bike alongside Jacob morning and afternoon (as Jacob goes to and from school) and that will count toward his PE hours. One of the local ski resorts offers a few weekday lessons each winter for home schoolers for their PE hours.  What he learns at church can count toward his Bible hours.  We can find educational video/movies on the History era and he can write a paper on it and earn hours for history and/or writing. He is an avid reader so I am compiling a big list of recommended historical fiction books that he can read and then write a paper/book report.  We can find educational field trips that will also count for his hours. There is so much flexibility, it is awesome. There is also so much life learning that goes on outside of the typical classroom. I am excited to find some grocery store worksheets. As I am grocery shopping I can send him down aisles to figure out cost per ounce of an item or have him compare like items to figure out which really is the best buy, or to calculate how much 8 pounds of something will cost. He can have a bigger part in paying the bills and learn those money management skills.  I am hoping to put him in charge of after school snacks, so that he has to plan/prepare things.  (Hopefully this will give him a greater appreciation of just one of the many things that it takes to run a household.)  I have a 7 page printout of objectives for 5th graders so we also have markers that we will be working towards.

He told me the other day that he was kind of getting excited about this. I know I am. Some nights I am up until 2am, just perusing websites, making mental notes. I am really excited about learning alongside him. There are some character qualities that we need to work on too, and it will be so much easier to do that with him home all the time and not influenced 40 hours a week by 5th graders! Ack. (He will also participate in several of his ongoing extra-curricular activities, so he will still get good, quality time with peers.  Not to mention that our county has over 400 kids that are home schooled and I am already looking at ways I can plug in and make more connections.)  Another aspect I am really looking forward to...most of Benjamin's work will be done on the computer, my computer. Which means I should be more productive since I won't have the draw of my computer/facebook/blogs throughout the day. I can even curl up with a good book and stay within ear shot if he needs help. Because I will be with Benjamin and Joseph most days, I won't feel like I have to split the after school hours among all the boys...I can single out special time with Jacob.

There are many 'secondary reasons' for this decision.  He is so bright and often times finished his work early but the teacher often had to teach to the lowest level.  For 2 years I have watched him 'get lost' in larger classrooms - his 4th grade class had 27 kids.  Other times his classmates were a huge distraction for him and he could not reign in his focus to move forward and complete things.  There are some things that I have had other moms tell me about middle school that concerns me and quite honestly, until a child has a solid foundation, why throw them into a lions den.  I want to build and help strengthen some of his character qualities so that he is able to hopefully navigate the upcoming teen years easier.  He loves being in control and what better way than for him to be a part of his subject choices and when/how they are completed.  If he is struggling with something, we can take an impromptu 5 minute break or he can set it aside for the moment and work on something else.  Or we can spend extra days mastering a certain task.  He really struggles with organization (as I hear is somewhat normal for boys) and this created problems in 4th grade so we can creatively, through trial and error, help him find systems that work for him.  Being honest, another reason is because him and I often butt heads over things and I think home schooling will greatly improve things with us, as we come together as a team and navigate these un-chartered waters.  Plus, who would not benefit from some great one on one with any parent.

Stay tuned....I am sure I will be posting lots of 'things learned'. Although I am very excited, I also know that there will be some very difficult, challenging, 'what was I thinking' days. However, the time is so short that we have to build into our kids and I feel that Benjamin and I are both at a place that I see lots of growing for both of us.