| I spent the first few years of my son's life | | | | homeschool". |
| reading a lot of books about parenting and quite a | | | | We agreed to homeschool as a one-year |
| few about homeschooling. I remember thinking | | | | experiment. I will admit the first weeks were |
| something along the lines of "it's great that people | | | | rough on both of us. I lay awake at night |
| can do that with their children, but I don't know if | | | | wondering if I was ruining his life. He, on the other |
| I could." Especially since my son was an only child, | | | | hand, was in the process of "deschooling", though |
| I didn't feel that family, friends, and | | | | at the time I had never heard the term and |
| acquaintenances would be supportive of him | | | | wondered why he didn't want to get off the |
| spending so much time with only me. But I loved | | | | couch and do all the fun learning things I had |
| sharing books with him and teaching him new | | | | planned. He had seemed depressed in the middle |
| things, playing imaginative games and making up | | | | school and now he still seemed depressed. But |
| novel ways to learn. Always the dutiful mom | | | | within three or four weeks, we found a |
| wanting to do the right thing, however, I visited | | | | homeschool support group that met weekly at a |
| preschools, found a great Montessori school, and | | | | local park. I was able to talk to parents with |
| enrolled him. That worked fine and still left us | | | | experience in homeschooling, and he was able to |
| more than enough time to learn together. | | | | see there were other kids like him and that he |
| Fast forward a few years, though, and we found | | | | had a place to make new friends. A few weeks |
| ourselves living in a different state, in a county | | | | later, he told me he did not ever want to go back |
| with an overcrowded school system, with middle | | | | to that middle school, so that we would do this |
| school rapidly approaching. I was already | | | | through eighth grade. Six months later, he took a |
| disappointed in the elementary school he was | | | | homeschool coop class in algebra and met |
| getting ready to leave, because despite his | | | | homeschooled high-schoolers. Then, he went a |
| achievements and fine grades there, I saw gaps | | | | step beyond as far as I'd ever thought about, |
| and deficiences in his learning that I could not | | | | announcing he also wanted to homeschool high |
| easily help him repair with the very few hours left | | | | school. |
| over to us at the end of each's day's classes and | | | | So here we are today, on the threshold of |
| activities, especially when we both were tired. He | | | | eleventh grade. It's been an incredible journey and |
| was doing advanced grade mathematics and yet | | | | sometimes I am as amazed as anyone that it has |
| needed to use his fingers if I asked him to do a | | | | worked fine. After the first year, it got much, |
| quick calculation at the supermarket. When he | | | | much easier. We learned about one another's |
| wrote anything longer than a phrase, he | | | | expectations, made compromises, and, in time, he |
| committed multiple spelling errors. And while he | | | | became the self-motivated learner he had been |
| had hours of "creative" homework, his foundation | | | | as a pre-schooler all over again. While I did teach |
| in basic skills seemed shaky. What was really | | | | during those middle school years, I find for high |
| frightening to me is that his academic | | | | school I am more the guidance counselor, the |
| weaknesses seemed to grow after he had just | | | | curriculum consultant, and the recordkeeper. |
| spent two years in "gifted" classes and now he | | | | I'm writing this for all parents who were like me, |
| was scheduled for all six of his middle school | | | | daydreaming about homeschooling but wondering |
| classes to be "gifted" classes. | | | | if they could really do it. I remember once during |
| The middle school turned out to be even more | | | | the summer after my son's fourth grade year |
| overcrowded than the elementary school. | | | | thinking that he was one-third of the way to the |
| Homework began to take up to five hours each | | | | end of high school and that there was SO much I |
| evening, depriving my son of time for reading | | | | wanted to tell him, teach him, share with him, and |
| books of his own choice and threatening to leave | | | | pass onto him in the eight years that were left, |
| him no time to attend his beloved weekly theatre | | | | but that with school and social activities it seemed |
| group. It just didn't seem right, especially since he | | | | there would never be enough time. Well, let me |
| seemed to be learning more from the books he | | | | tell you, without "real school", I've been able to do |
| read on his own and was gaining incredible poise | | | | all that telling, teaching, and sharing in just the last |
| and speaking ability from participating in the | | | | five years....all of it. That feeling of not enough |
| theatre group. Seven weeks into middle school, | | | | time has gone, replaced with the knowing that |
| after I had suggested it several times, he came | | | | whatever the future brings, I've given him the |
| home from school one day and basically said, "I | | | | experiences, the knowledge, and the foundation I |
| don't want to go back there; I'll try your idea to | | | | wanted him to have. Seize the day! |