Free Range Children

Reading about rocks

Ever since the end of the last school year we have been looking at the option of homeschooling. Just before Christmas things came to a head at school and I actually pulled J. out with that intent. It turned out to be the wrong time. So in January he went back to public school. Both of the boys have really struggled at school. J. more this year than ever before. Mostly what the struggle is for him is all of the other kids. His 3rd grade teacher told me that J. would prefer to have just him and her. He hates the noise, the bad and foul language, the teasing of not only him but of the other kids as well. He wants to learn, but the other students make it too hard for him to listen and learn. Someone in his classes lately has been using a small noise maker that has a high pitched noise that anyone over 40 cant hear and they use it during class to disrupt without the teachers knowing. It's driving him crazy.

J2 has some of the same issues. He is so easily distracted. And now that he is caught up with the others in his class he is so bored with what they are doing. His teacher wont move him to a different table group because he has such a hard time focusing. The things that he needs to help him focus, physical activity, the teacher cant do because she has 19 other kids to deal with.

Both of them are very smart. They both tested high on in the average range in their IQ test. They are both visual learners that learn best by doing. J. is such a voracious reader and comes up with the most amazing facts about so many things. J2's strength is math. One day he asked me if he could make a plane on a piece of paper like J's. It took me a while to figure out that he didn't want to do an airplane but an algebraic plane that he saw his older brother doing for homework. J. has some online support for his math that has video lectures about the problems they are doing and J2 was watching it with him and started to pick it up. I found the web site and he sat and went through 4 lessons and took notes. I made a couple of graphs that he did on his own.....for fun!

So with all this in mind, a lot of prayer, and rising frustration, we signed them up for California Virtual Academy for next year. It is an on-line credentialed state school. Since it is through the state of California it is a public school and free. They give you everything that your child needs from the computer, text books, all the science material for the projects in short everything! They are required to log in Monday through Friday. It is Mastery learning so if they don't pass the tests with 80% they don't move on to the next lesson. They have a teacher who lives in our area and they have class trips and outings continually.

The one thing that has been holding me back is time, my time. It seems selfish. I was looking forward to next year when they would both be at school all day and I'm not driving back and forth to school all day. I was looking forward to some peace and quiet in my day where I was alone. I need that time. I also have stopped taking my spinning/weaving class because of our schedule this year and I really miss it. Part of our discussion on doing homeschool is that Mommy gets Monday afternoons and one Friday morning a month off. Some of the things that I have been reading about homeschooling online is that the parent who is doing the instruction needs to have that time to regenerate. "You cant fill anyone up from and empty cup." is the most common thing I've read. This is a family decision and a family effort. We are all in this together.