It has been an interesting journey to discover our heart for his learning - it started before he was born and we've had many a discussion about our values and our concerns. Both Mr. E and I went through public school and we are trained as teachers, we know the system - what we love and hate.
When we were first married, it seemed a given that our kids would go to school, no questions asked. Then when I found out I was pregnant, we had some special conversations with my bro and sis in law that launched us into a whole discovery about what we really wanted for our family. Our views about pregnancy, birth, parenting.... and the whole chain of life that follows radically changed.
Our values came out loud and clear: (I won't go into all of them now, but here are a few that relate) We value connectedness. We see our children as worthy of respect in word and action. We strive to be life long learners. In our home, we create opportunities for learning - not for accomplishment or to try to "make the grade", but because we see learning as a JOY. Learning is a part of our daily experience.
So we have asked ourselves, how does this relate to educating our kids?
We know that we want learning to continue to be a family activity. We learn together. We learn from each other and we teach each other. We all have something to offer and we all have something to learn. We do not want learning to become something that only happens within a specific time frame. Our world is our classroom. We want to provide opportunities to let our children uncover their world - cultures, activities, foods, people - to see themselves as part of something larger than just our little corner.
We know that we want to remain connected as a family. We are committed to encouraging and walking with our kids as they learn. However and wherever they learn, we want to be engaged with them.
We value nurturing the heart of our children. We would rather have our children love what they are doing, (and sometimes learning to persevere if they don't love it), than getting a specific mark, or completing a task just to say it is done. I think back at so many of my classes at university where I did the work to get the grade and graduate and truly missed out on the real experience of what I was learning.
So with lots of reading, thinking, praying we entered last year with the intention that the best way to see our hopes realized was to homeschool. I love being with our kids. I love being a mom. I love teaching them. I love experiencing life with them. And, I was so excited to combine learning and home life into some sort of work of art.
Then this last year hit, A battle to just get through many days - feeling fatigued in every bone in my body, moving (yes, we bought and sold and moved in 1 month!), having major fog brain - lacking clarity in thoughts and the ability to plan. I had no idea that life with MS would turn what came so easily to me into something I really have to work for. I've been grumpy and frustrated. And at the end of it all, Mr. E and I took a good look at life and decided the best decision for our family would be to send B to school.
Thankfully, B had been asking about going to school, and really excited about the idea. And so this week, we walked out the door and headed to school...
Truthfully, dropping B off at school seemed to go against every parenting grain in my body. I'd never met the teacher before, never seen the classroom, had very little idea of the flow of the day. I've never dropped B off without having some clue of who I was leaving him with and what he'd be experiencing. Thankfully earlier in the week, we went together to "check out" the school and the classrooms just happened to be open. We didn't know his teacher at the time, but got to see one of the other classrooms -enough info to set both of us a little more at ease.
So now we combine the school model with our home model and come up with some hybrid of what our values and dreams are, mixed with the reality of the school system. I am at peace about it though still trying to wrap my heart and mind around the emotions. So far, B loves it, his teacher is fabulous, and I'm looking forward to how the year unfolds.
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