Looking back on my year of homeschooling, I feel proud that we made it the entire year. The kids would agree that there were several aspects that we enjoyed, but there were several challenges. I am very nervous about Carter's transition back to school especially--worried about whether I covered all the topics adequately and if he mastered them to the point where he can build upon the knowledge for next year. He's the one that I can see hitting a roadblock next year when something gets tough and wanting to quit and go back to homeschooling. As much as I dislike some things about the public school system, I also think there are several things they do well and experiences they provide that I can't. The one hope that I'm holding onto is that Covid threw everything/everyone for a loop last year, and if there are some areas where my boys are behind due to homeschooling, I think there will be other kids in the same boat. One area that I didn't spend as much time as I should have for both boys is writing and that will likely be an area they are behind. Something that will help Carter's transition hopefully is the fact that he made percussion. 6th graders aren't allowed to tryout because they want students to start an instrument in 5th grade, but thankfully the percussion teacher made an exception for Carter. I was proactive and reached out to him last summer to negotiate a tryout if Carter took lessons all year long, which he did with Drew. He passed the tryout with flying colors, and we are so thankful to Drew! Bryson is excited to attend school again next year to see friends and also to be there for Austin during his first year. Bryson's biggest struggle is going to be waking up. That kid needs his sleep! He sleeps 11 to 12 hours every night, but getting him to bed before 8pm is quite difficult, especially during baseball season.
What I loved about homeschooling:
1) My kids and I really enjoyed the flexibility of our schedule. The boys could start later, we took breaks as needed during the day, and Fridays were a break from our normal schooling. Fridays we did our homeschool group for science, art, and music/theater from 9-11am. After lunch, we did 10-15 minutes of writing and then some poetry reading. I was more consistent with the writing/poetry the first semester than the second semester. Things started to open up more in January, and we used Fridays as field trip days sometimes.
2) My boys would definitely agree that they loved the shorter school day. We usually had everything done by 1 or 2pm (Tuesdays and Thursdays were longer due to preschool), and I didn't have to use the "after school" hours to help with homework or enforce piano practicing, which made my piano teaching much easier.
3) I find parenting one kid more difficult. Austin and I had already spent one year alone together where I was trying to keep him entertained with activities or play dates and not too much screen time. (I was also teaching him preschool.) Honestly, I was not looking forward to another year, and homeschool solved that problem. As mentioned in a previous post, I loved the relationship that Bryson and Austin developed as they had more time to bond and play together this last year. Things were not always peachy between them, but mostly they were good buds. On the other hand, Carter and Bryson are like oil and water and do not get along! That provided an added challenge throughout the school year.
4) Completing a year of homeschool was such a confidence booster. I can do this! I don't know what the future will hold and there may be a time where I will need this boost of confidence to do this again.
5) I enjoyed the curriculum I used! The Good and The Beautiful pulled in topics about God or from the Bible on occasion. I loved it! I also learned right along with the boys sometimes as topics were taught in new and different ways than I learned it. I received my bachelor's degree in Elementary Education, so it was fun to teach these grades again.
6) As I mentioned in a previous post, my favorite part of the day was our morning reading time. We read a story from The Friend, a history read-aloud, and then a chapter book read-aloud. It was so fun to start the school day off this way with heads usually ending up on my shoulders as I read.
7) Our homeschool group numbers dwindled throughout the year, and 2nd semester the 3 of us that were left decided to just head up one area. I took over music, Ariel took over art, and Melissa covered Science. I really enjoyed studying some composers and planning music lessons. We did handbells, boom whackers, rhythm cards, orchestra bingo, and some weeks we studied a famous song/composer with some different activities. It was fun to zone in and stretch myself in this area.
Teaching homeschool was definitely a team effort. I had so much help from my sister who aided me as I prepped last summer. She gave me materials and advice and helped me believe in myself. My homeschool group was such a support, and I was grateful to have these other moms to lean on. We worked together to provide a fun experience on Fridays for the kids and had several therapy sessions together as we chatted for a bit after homeschool group. Matt was also a huge help as he picked up areas that I slacked around the house and didn't complain. In my most stressful/busy year of my life, Caleb also helped lighten my load in the fact that he was completely independent this last school year. Perhaps because he is my oldest, I have been more involved in his schooling in the past--some of it hand-holding, but mostly correcting papers and quizzing him before tests. This last year, I didn't have time for that, and he was still able to soar without my help. He utilized his prep period at school to get homework done, stayed on top of all his schoolwork, and aced everything. For his 8th grade year, he didn't have a grade lower than 95 on his final averages for all his classes. He did incredibly well!
I wish I would have taken up my mom's offer for help earlier. She offered throughout the year, but I didn't want to take up anymore of her time since she was already helping my sister homeschool her 5 kids twice a week. I didn't feel like I needed her help and thus politely refused. The last few months things started to get rough with attitudes though, and I was feeling overwhelmed, so I finally conceded and accepted her help. She came every other Wednesday, and boy what a difference it made! It was so nice that I could have a break--homeschooling was exhausting on top of preschool, piano teaching, and my other household duties. While my mom worked with the boys, I either ran an errand or did a bike ride to train for my sprint triathlon. The boys responded so much better to another "teacher" and worked efficiently, quickly, and respectfully, which did not happen with me most days. My mom could usually push them harder than I could, so after a few times my boys did start to complain that they didn't like it, but I loved it! It was so kind and generous of her to help. (My dad sometimes came too!)
Overall, I consider the last year a success! It was a rewarding experience, and I loved being very involved in my boys' schooling.
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