It's a pleasure to meet you.
HI, I'm Jeanette!
Hello there and welcome!
Here's a bit of background on how I landed at the home school helm of our crazy cruise ship of life.
In 1997 Mark and I were in love, (still are), and had no intention of homeschooling any children we may be blessed with. Seriously what kind of odd folks would willingly do that. We just knew that we were meant for each other and whatever journey that we found ourselves on in the future, we would face together. Just a “normal” newlywed couple, ready to take on the world.
We are not public or private school “bashers” nor do we assert that the way we educate our children is "the way" for every family. I do not own a denim jumper. Having access to many forms of educational options benefit the society, in our opinion.
In fact my husband , my eldest daughter (now a mother herself), and I attended, thrived, and graduated through the public school system.
Well, fast forward 10 months and our first born arrived. 15 months after that, our second, and 24 months after that our third.
I was busy and in the infant/baby/toddler zones simultaneously. Loving the fast paced precious stage of life we were in, and relishing in the wonder that is the view of the world through a child's eyes.
It was time for school! Our eldest was turning four in September. We lived close to a high quality church- based preschool that had an opening for the fall and we dutifully signed her up and were all excited about the new adventure!
Bright colors, friendly patient teachers, happy eager children, it was perfect. I buckled my little crew in the minivan and headed to the classroom 3 days a week. 2yr old and 9 month old in tow. We dropped her off and waved goodbye and picked her up 3 hours later. It was tiring and a bit hectic, but it is just what you do with a school aged child.
After just a week, I noticed a change. Her sister, best friend and constant companion waited and watched the clock (as well as a 2 yr old can) eagerly awaiting the adventurer’s return. Full of questions and wide eyed wonder at the amazing things she may have learned in the place we deposited her every day.
All the rules, and different discipline challenges, and time constraints were exhausting for our "cherisher of moments". The school superhero was exhausted. She had no time to share the sights and lessons of the day with a sibling that “wouldn’t understand”, she was simply “too young”, it was for school kids and that was a label little sister just didn’t wear. It was heartbreaking.
In just one week, our family dynamic had changed. Now for some this change is a natural progression of growth in the household. A challenge to work through and adjust to, a bit of reconfiguration of attitude and activities and we would be right as rain. A completely normal growing stage, just like learning to tie one’s shoes.
But for us, it just wasn’t.
Mark and I talked and prayed and researched and talked some more about this phenomenon known as “homeschooling”. We knew a family that did that, and we thought that was WAY out of our wheelhouse. How in the world does that even work? Why in the world would people do that? Is that even legal? I wasn't a "home school kind of mom".
We met with our friends, learned more about it, and thought we’d give it a go, “just for a bit”. Homeschooling seemed like a good gap plan, until we got the whole school/ family dynamic thing figured out.
We withdrew our four year old from preschool after the month was over. She returned home, without much ado, and transitioned to school at home with her siblings seamlessly.
In the state of Washington at that time the age a child needs to be accounted for (a letter of intent to be filed) was 8 yrs old. The decision was made that we would home school preschool, and maybe kindergarten and see what this thing was all about. If we decided to then put them in public school they wouldn’t even be behind. It was like a safety net for my uncertainty, and an answer for doubting relatives and friends.
The nuts and bolts of daily life with infants, toddlers and school aged children will be covered in depth in another post.
Mark and I finally got honest with ourselves. My research and new relationships with home teachers had led me to see that homeschooling was exactly where our family was meant to be. We finally took our fingers out of our ears (metaphorically) and embraced our calling to home school all of our children full time, through high school graduation. Being Christian is a huge factor in who we are individually, and as a family, and being called by God to raise our children in this way has been an anchor for our steadfastness in this area of our lives.
Moving forward with a new certainty and conviction, we faced the school year of 2004. Family and friends had differing reactions to our news that this was our new life plan. My relatives consist of many teachers in the public school system. To say that they were skeptical would be an understatement.
To this point, the lessons we had learned as a homeschooling parenting team were:
-Relationships within our home outweigh standard cultural norms.
-Home school parents/spouses must be on the same page.
-Conviction is crucial for longevity in any new protocol.
So that is how our story begins. Thus far, four of our students have graduated at national level through the home school system, and are productive members of society. In just 3 more short years our final two will have finished their high school educations as well.
Here in my bloggings and musings I shall attempt to share with you how we have succeeded and where we would tread differently if we had the chance to "do it all again". Rest assured however, there is no doubt we would unreservedly take this home school route again.
~Jeanette
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