At this time last year I put Cooper into PreK at our local public school. By the end of September I pulled him out and decided to try homeschooling. It wasn' t that his school had done anything 'wrong' just the whole process did not feel right to me. "Because that is what we did" was not a good enough answer on why he needed to go to school. "It is where he learns to socialize" didn't make sense, we get LOTS of socialization at church, sporting events and our millions of playdates. "You have to let go sometime" was confusing because he is only FIVE. "How will he learn to cope without having different teachers" is plain silly. I am not his 24 hour shadow. He has influences of his coaches, music teacher, YMCA workers and friends and family that I know and trust who take him many places-without me.I felt a tugging at my heart to do things differently. To go against what everyone else was doing and try something new. My active, curious five year old is growing quickly. I am already home with the four and five month old anyway. Why did he need to leave to 'go to school?' Now is the time to influence him. I have the control of who he hangs out with, what is being taught to his little mind and more importantly his heart. As each year passes I will lose more of that control as he gains more. I want to fill him up with who our family is as much as possible. I will never get these moments back.
The past ten months have been a work in progress. Some days were tougher than others, yet we managed through them. I found a GREAT curriculum in K12. Amazing material that engages my little guy and even teaches me a few things along the way. I openly admit I am not a baby person(Abram is quickly changes me though!)and Cooper was entering an age of great excitement and wonderment. I was enjoying his company and the quirkiness of his developing mind. I wanted to be the one who teaches him to read, to go from learning letters and sounds to reading his first book. I wanted to see his struggles and work through them. I did not want someone else dictating when we got up in the morning.
His Kindergarten year starts now. Today we worked on digraphs and trigraphs and the differences between the two. We also read Little Red Riding Hood and made finger puppets to act out the story. He read two short books and finished his math sheet while I fixed breakfast. All before 9 AM.
I could say it was because he is SO into learning or that I am just THAT good, but he had gotten a new XBOX game and he couldn't play it until his work and responsibilities were done. Hey! Whatever keeps them motivated. Here's to a great year . . .
