Questions that pop into your head might be: Why would she do this? Did she put any thought into this? Does she know what she is in for? Does she realize how much work she is getting into?
Basically the only answer I can think of is, "No, I have no idea what I'm doing".
So why create a blog about it?
Sometimes the funniest things in life are our screw ups - maybe I'll learn something cool to share - maybe this will be the worst year of my life and maybe someone out there can learn from it?
I dunno, maybe in a few months I'll get one follower who will eventually tell me what a moron I am for wasting his/her time.
My 8 year old son last night told me how the kids at school are ruining his life. I know it is a bit dramatic, but name calling/bullying has been happening off and on for a big part of the year. We live in a somewhat affluent suburban neighbourhood and for some reason I thought that meant the kids would be nicer. Boy was I wrong. There is a very distinct pecking order, a peck on or be pecked on way of getting by at his over crowded school. Some kids walk around with "entitlement" written all over them, others are too busy telling all their buddies how many Lego sets, how great their Disney world vacation was, how many new video games they have etc. to even notice that by all their bragging they are puffing themselves up and completely deflating others. Why don't parents see that by over indulging their kids they are creating little social beasties that are so self involved they don't seem to care about the feelings of others?
One option before resorting to home schooling is to switch schools. I doubt that would make much of a difference. Even typing the phrase 'resort to home school' I know how wrong that statement is. If my son could grow his knowledge and his self esteem at public school I would rather keep him among his peers. I think it's important, as he is an only child, to learn with friends. But if it comes at a cost to his mental and emotional well being then that cost is just too high. Home schooling is really a privilege and having the opportunity should make me feel very blessed. In all honesty though I'm terrified of the idea. I have no idea what I'm doing on this subject and the thought of failing him is very scary. The thing I keep reminding myself of though, is that it is only third grade I'm talking about. It's not like I'm attempting to teach him physics right out of the gate right? As it is now I actively like to find ways of teaching him when we are going on walks for example. So maybe this won't be so bad after all?
I am ready to make mistakes, royally screw up, fall flat on my face; and eventually pick myself up, dust myself off and cry a bit too along the way. One year, how much can I really screw up his education in one year right? This is going to be interesting. I have no idea where to start. Maybe a book or two? At least I have the summer to get a bit of a grasp on trying to form a plan. One thing worries me though. This could get very expensive if I let it. Because so often in our society when we don't really know what we are doing we just throw money at it. Expecting the more money we throw at something the better the result. That would be a horrible first lesson to teach my son though, on this journey of home based education.
Wish me luck, this is one girl that is gonna need it!!
