How we got started homeschooling (MeMe)

MomLovesBeingAtHome posted this topic and I thought it would be a great MeMe! I love hearing about how others got started homeschooling! So what’s your story? What made you decide to begin is fun, weird, sometimes scary journey with your kids? I’ll start!

My stepson (then 1st) and oldest daughter (then K) attended the same school. I was a classroom mom, spending two days a week at the school. The kids’ classrooms were linked with an open door between. The classes were K-2nd, and the teachers teamed up frequently. I’d float between the classes, reading with kids, making copies for the teachers, doing bulletin boards, and whatnot. My daughter was really struggling with the classroom situation. She’d never been much for chaos or crowds, and being with a group of kids up through 2nd graders was really tough. She didn’t understand that when the teacher was addressing the class, she meant HER TOO. Then the teacher would discover P hadn’t done anything, just sat there kind of staring around and observing. We didn’t know at the time she had a learning disability, but we knew there was a problem. She wasn’t a young kindergartner. She turned 6 in February of that school year. She just didn’t “get it”. I had the school test her, and they said she had a language processing disorder but “She’s not bad enough for us to help her.” Okay, so what to do? I asked them, point blank, “So she’s just going to fall through the cracks, and that’s it?” They all just kind of shrugged. As I was leaving, the Speech Pathologist pulled me aside. “I’ll tell you what I would do with her if I was able to work with her. Come with me and I’ll give you some exercises and things to work with her on.” Wow, that was awesome!

We started that very same day. The SLP gave me around 100 language/listening exercise pages, and had told me to come back when we ran out, and she’d give me some more. P did GREAT with these! Not only that, but she THRIVED on the one-on-one. I’d work with her after lunch. She’d go to Kindergarten in the morning, then come home, eat lunch, and do a little work with me. Not only that, but she was asking me if she could read. They were still learning the alphabet in her class, but I thought, why not? I bought Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons. (I picked it up at a secondhand shop for $3!) We did a lesson a day for a month. She became bored with the lessons, but by then she was reading very well! Around that same time, my stepson’s mom took him out of school to home school him. I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but she lent me a book called “The How & Why of Homeschooling” by Ray Ballman. I read that book cover to cover, and then reread it. I realized, unbeknownst to me, that I’d BEEN HOMESCHOOLING already! I knew then what I needed to do. I prayed about it, took and deep breath, and asked my husband what he thought about pulling her out of school.

“This is YOUR BABY”, he told me. In other words, he didn’t want anything to do with it. The school where they kids had been going was year-round. They went through the end of July. I pulled her out of school at Spring Break, the first week of April. I got online, found the Christian Homeschool Fellowship, and learned a lot about curriculum. I ordered Five in A Row (the whole set! Everything!) and we got started. My hubby really did NOT know what to make of this. He was tolerant, and watched and asked a lot of questions. Annoying questions. But he didn’t stop us. I knew that I’d have to prove to him that this would work, so we actually did school through the summer that first year. By September, there was no question about putting P into school. We were all happy at home, and she was doing very well despite her difficulty, which did NOT go away by coming home. We just worked around it.

I could write a book about the ups and downs, back & forths we’ve had in the last couple of years regarding school. (Read my blog over the past couple of years and you’ll see!) We’re 9 years into this and still homeschooling, this year just a 7th grader, and next year I’ll have K, 2nd & 8th. The Lord has shown himself faithful to me as I turn to Him for strength. My husband is a great support also!

Soooooo I’m going to tag Elliott Academy, SouthernGirl (HEHEHE- you owe me one!), and Donna Young. Hopefully these three gals will play along! I can’t wait to hear your stories!