Hey guys,
We did something huge!
It is a momentous time in our life over here in beautiful Northumberland. Time for a new journey for our family...
I have just sent a deregistration letter to my son's school so I am now electively home educating my kids. I have two boys, Levi (6) and Sonny (4 - who will not be attending school in September). We are so excited to learn at home. I am also extremely nervous...
I don't want to let my boys down, but by sending them to school, I can place the blame and criticism onto someone else! Having had a long hard talk with myself, I am fully aware that being nervous is completely understandable and venturing into the unknown is daunting but is and will be worth it. Our path is not linear and the journey we take does not need to follow society's expectation. We do not need to conform to fit other people's ideas. We can develop and have our own!
I have always been interested in home-schooling but was always too intimidated both the concept and by my lack of knowledge of it to just go for it from the start. We live in a small town, we have visited lots of schools in our area and found one that we thought best fit us and Levi but ultimately we saw issues and ideas that the school did that we disagreed with. In reception we flexi-schooled for the summer term but we were unable to going into year one. We chose to keep him in school, largely based on the fact that he has such a lovely, compassionate and nurturing teacher, however although she is wonderful, in my opinion the school system is broken. Having trialled traditional school, we decided to take the leap and home educate.
I have no plans to set up a classroom in my living room, although my son did ask if he can call me Mrs Momma! What a sweetheart. I told him we were learning together so asked whether I could call him Mr Levi. He enjoyed that response.
I have spent hours and hours over the last couple of month learning more about home education and am thrilled to be finally going for it.
So, that being said, this is why we have chosen to home educate...
Learning Freedom - I want my kids to have the ability to learn about the topics that interest them. I want them to have the space to deep dive into things if and when they want to. I don't want them to have to go through a list of curriculum and tick off topics and subjects according to government guidelines but learn about things because they want to.
Practical life skills and life long learners - I grouped these two together because I think they are woven together. I want my children to develop the skills need in both life and in learning. I want them to be able to direct and manage their own learning and not rely on someone pushing them to do so or forcing them. I want them to go out into the world being able to look after themselves physically, emotionally and socially. I want to help them discover that you learn in every aspect of life and you can learn whatever, whenever you like. School is a place you can go to learn a prescribed set of topics but life will teach you what you both want and need to know.
A broader view - I believe that the curriculums set out for kids limits their learning. I do not want Levi or Sonny pushed down a set learning path with a very narrow scope of topics that may not be relevant to their interests or that could, in my opinion, be better learnt through alternative means than the traditional school setting. I would love my children to have a richer knowledge of the world, its cultures and history. I feel mine is very limited and I want my children the opportunity to learn a wider range of each subject. We live in an international world, our children should learn about people and culture from around the world to better equip themselves for the future.
Better relationships and interactions - My boys are best friends. They always have been. BUT Levi struggles with interactions with Sonny and I when returning from school. He is not an early riser, so they only get to play together after school or on weekends, but after a long day at school, being forced to conform to other play structures or the teachers directions, he cannot cope with calm and engaging communication. He struggles to process and deal with situations or disagreements. He is quick to shut down, pass blame and take over a game. It can take him upwards of two hours just to decompress from his school day. These are attitudes that we don't notice over the weekend or holidays as much. Of course, sometimes, as the bigger brother he tries to tell Sonny what to do, however in those cases he is often a lot better at communication.
I want to spend time with my children - I am not the parent that says "bring on September", and sadly I have heard parents say this. I like to hang out with my kids. Yes, they knacker me out and are excellent at pushing against my boundaries and triggering responses from me that I later regret. But I like them, they are funny, gracious, kind, loving, loud, silly, handsome and clever. They teach me and make me laugh and smile constantly. At the moment though I feel like I am missing out on Levi's childhood, he is up and straight off to school and comes home having to do reading, phonics and spelling homework (which is often a chore for both of us), he gets very little time for play and as I am doing the cooking and housework, I often feel I don't get the chance to interact with him the way I want to. I will definitely be working to rectify this.
I will be posting here to share our journey, experiences and as a form of journaling our path to help me decompress and reflect.
Please get in touch if you want to connect. I would love to talk to people about home education and learn from others.
B x
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