Monday Musings

For those of you who didn't know, I homeschool. I decided to look into homeschooling when we had to move before my oldest could officially graduate from Kindergarten in one state, but they wouldn't promote him in the next. He could already read well and do simple math and I worried that making him do Kindergarten over again would make him one of those bored troublemakers I saw when I volunteered at the school.

I hadn't heard of homeschooling, but one of the ladies at my church suggested that we look into it as an alternative. I did tons of research, prayed, and then went to my first homeschool convention. That was an experience! I wandered around looking like a deer about to be hit by a semi most of the time. That was the final piece it took to convince me, though. I wasn't going to be alone. There were a lot of people doing this, and a lot of support available.

We moved a lot the first few years and homeschooling fit our lifestyle very well. We didn't have to worry about changing requirements, curriculum standards, schedules or teachers. We were able to set our own and make sure it worked for our family. The more we homeschooled, the more benefits we saw. No missed work for illness, more hands on work, more field trips, higher test scores ... When we finally settled down we didn't see any reason to stop.

So that's where we are today. One of mine is already graduated. He earned a full ride scholarship in engineering. He's getting married later this month. My other son is in high school, very active in sports, loves to cook, hates algebra, and started school this week.

I look at where I am and then back and have a warm and fuzzy feeling for the red tape that stopped my oldest from graduating from Kindergarten. :o)