More Change Coming Our Way . . .

This week is Mr. J's last week of school.
I wasn't planning on starting homeschooling this year. UNTIL.
Until I realized that my five year old is reading at an almost-first-grade level.
Until I realized that my five year old is doing addition and subtraction.
Until I realized that my five year old is so far ahead of the others in his class that he's getting bored and starting to get in trouble more often.
You see, as amazing and wonderful as his teacher is (and she truly IS amazing and wonderful!), her hands are tied by the school system. The school says that children Mr. J's age can only be taught certain things in school, and that anything beyond that he's "not ready for". This bothers me. As a former Montessori aide, I know the importance of child-led learning. Who are we to say when a child is ready for something? I was ready for reading at age two. My daughter, at age 9, is just now ready for multiplication. Mr. J is ready for all of this at age five. Putting limits like that on our children's learning is, somehow, wrong for me. So, after much prayer, we decided that this is the best time to start homeschooling with Mr. J.

This was also Miss E and Mr. J's brother, Mr. G's last week of school. Actually, yesterday was Mr. G's last day. His mother removed him from school to study for his GED. This makes me a little uncomfortable in some ways - he is only a sophomore in high school after all (although he will be 17 next week). I am choosing to look at it as another form of homeschooling. A form of unschooling, if you will, where Mr. G will be allowed to finally find himself and pursue his true dream of video game design sooner rather than later. A GED is not the end all be all, after all. In fact, I've met a few doctors that went on to be quite successful with GED's. It is possible and can happen. So my hopes remain high for my oldest.

Mr. G's transition from our home back to his mother's is going to be a challenge. The younger ones already miss their big brother, and it hasn't even been 24 hours yet. But I am confident that these transitions are going to bring positive change to our household.

I have ordered math curriculum for both Miss E and Mr. J. At first I was leaning toward unschooling, but I truly feel that they both need this structure. They will also get handwriting and spelling. As for reading, history, geography, science and the like, I feel those subjects are great for unschooling in my family - after all, both children are avid readers, and living in the country things like history, science, and the like happen all around us and are found out constantly.

Our little school is starting to come together nicely. I am getting excited, as are the children. Miss E is actually excited about doing math, and Mr. J can't wait to start his new phonics books (they are Star Wars Themed -  my kids are total nerds).

Our official start date will be April 1st. Almost exactly three months since we started the deschooling process with Miss E. Mr. J, being in preschool, doesn't need as much time as his sister did, so he will get less than a month of deschooling.

I am up for the challenge. I am ready.