There was no dramatic moment in his public school career, short as it was, that convinced me we had to go this route. Cleveland wasn't suffering in school. He was content (mostly), and he was learning. All good things. But sometime midyear, a feeling began to gnaw at me. So he's not suffering? Sure that's great, as none of us hopes our children will suffer. But is he succeeding? Is he achieving all that his potential might allow? Is he truly, genuinely happy? I couldn't say yes to these questions, at least not easily. Instead of the vital, vibrant 5-year-old I envisioned skipping home from school to share the news of all his intellectual discoveries, I saw an exhausted child, working too hard in class and having little left to give at the end of the day. Cleveland was leaving the best of himself at the threshold of the kindergarten door, and the dregs we were receiving at home didn't feel like enough. AND there was homework. 33.5 hours of school per week, plus homework? For a five-year-old? And for what purpose? To train him up to understand that life is all about work and more work? To get him accustomed to the years that would follow? Surely not. Surely my child was allowed to feel like a child for a bit longer. I decided I could no longer measure his success as simply a lack of failure. I wanted awesome. I wanted to be in awe of my awesome kid again.
******lots of nitty gritty stuff*******many posts worth as to discussions and decisions******
The bottom line: We "piloted" school-at-home (a not-so-euphamism for you-know-what) throughout the summer. I wrote out some basic goals for Cleveland and we tracked our progress. We continued math (probably his favorite subject) and went back to the basics with reading (which he was struggling with throughout the year). And progress was made. And he was happy. In addition, I purchased a wonderful history curriculum and, along with Lucie, we started doing world history on the weekends. The kids were really learning and loving it and we did projects and spent time outside together and OMG it was sooooo much fun! In short, it was a success.
Also we had a baby. Three weeks in advance of school. Hmm...
In a somewhat premeditated move, and somewhat at the last minute, we decided to enroll C in a charter school (that's a public school with a particular philosophy). This one caters to supporting families in home-education. Phil felt strongly, and I agreed, that to keep my sanity, offer quality education, maintain household responsibilities, give myself some "me" time, and allow all of our kids the time and attention from me that they desire and deserve, I couldn't go this entirely alone.
The schedule now is a bit frenetic. C goes to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for a total of 12 hours/week. MWF he's home with me (on those days, Lucie is in morning preschool). At home we cover all the basics required by the state of California (language arts, math, social studies, PE) and in class he gets to do stuff I can't or won't or don't provide (cool math manipulatives, chances to teach and learn from other kids). He's in a K-1 class with 12 kids. And he's happy.
It's taken me a while to bust out this post. The content here is such a small peice of all I've done and thought and studied and read. But I've also been wanting to share more, about the school we're doing, the photography "elective" that C is so enthusiastic over, and the Assyrian Siege Tower (that's right) that we built out of duplos this morning. So this was the hump I needed to get over in order to get to the good stuff. Lots more to come. Really.
For a bit of fun, here are a few pictures of what we've been up to:
We celebrated September 2nd, our very-merry-un-first-day by playing outside, and enjoying our last day with my mother-in-law before she returned to the east coast. What a shame it would've been for Cleveland to miss his Grammie's last day because of school.
Headed to cub scouts. He's so proud that he gets to wear a uniform like his dad. And his best school friend from Kindergarten is in his den.
Our first photography project: making a photogram using sunlight to expose construction paper.
Close-up selfie
He loves doing portraits...
...and candids
Our siege tower prepares to conquer the wall of the laundry basket.
Finally, I need to provide some important credit where it is due:
-Kristen Perrinez, my smart and courageous sister-in-law who has been homeschooling her son for almost two years, gave me untold support and more resources than I could have asked for. When this thought first flew into my brain, I called her first, and thank goodness she answered the phone.
-My mother (second phone call) pretty much told me immediately that "yes" she would come to stay with us after the new baby was born and YES she would support this endeavor in whatever way possible.
-Friends, all of them, near and far, none of whom shunned this idea, and all of whom offered enthusiastic support.
-My husband, who never once EVER told me I was crazy, and gave me ample time to talk about this decision from every angle, and offered lots of feedback and played devil's advocate and ultimately told me that he trusted me fully, and was willing to put his faith in me.
Today the sun is shining, Lucie's home from preschool, the babies are napping, Cleveland's doing quiet reading, and things feel just about perfect.
