Its Official

I met with the Principal of the children's school today. The school is currently re-enrolling kids for next year and I thought it was a good time to let them know that we wouldn't be back in the fall. I wanted to tell her personally about our decision to homeschool....knowing that rumors can start and spread fast and I wanted to make sure that when we leave the school we do so on good terms and with no regrets.

We have been involved with a lot of school activities, fundraisers and sports over the past 5 years, we pay all our tuition on time every month and its pretty rare that we complain about anything so I think she was genuinely disappointed that we were leaving. She said she has reservations about our decision to homeschool...and to be honest I would expect that. I can't imagine a school principal patting me on the back and lauding my homeschool decision as the best educational option for my children. The funny thing is that her biggest concern is the issue of socialization ...especially for my middle school daughter. It seems odd to me that this would be an issue especially since my daughter has been in the same class with the same 20 kids for the last 5 years.

Nevertheless I listened to her concerns, thanked her politely and felt quite liberated as I left her office. I really feel like its official...that our homeschool journey has begun!

Every journey begins with a First Step

After much research, discussion, soul searching and a touch of angst, Matt and I have decided to take the plunge into the world of homeschooling. We have been wrestling with our children's education for quite some time. Feeling like we are leaving them to the mercy of the education system which is incapable of addressing them as individuals with their individual strengths and weaknesses. Afraid that they will be forced through a system that doesn't necessarily have THEIR best interests at heart...and knowing that we are the only ones that really have a vested interest in ensuring they grow to meet their full potential (You can read about my struggle with their education here.)
So the path to homeschooling has come kind of out of the blue for us. I had never really considered it before. Its not nearly as widespread in Australia as it is here in the States so it had never even crossed my mind until one afternoon when my daughter, after having a rough day at school, asked if I could homeschool her. And then it was a bit of a snowball effect. We couldn't believe that we had never thought of it before.
I asked our other children what they thought of the idea and I was surprised to hear just how enthusiastic they were about it. So before we made a decision I threw myself into research mode and was determined to find out as much as I could about homeschooling. Talking to homeschoolers, finding out about curriculum, resources, support groups and co-ops. It made my head spin. But Matt and I both knew that homeschooling was the right decision for our family.
So once we had told the children..(who were VERY excited)...we decided not to pull them out of school mid year..(for a variety of reasons)..so I am spending the next few months getting organized to begin our first year of homeschooling.
I have set up this blog to record our family's journey with homeschooling....to journal our experiences, good, bad and everything in between. Strap yourself in...this could be a bumpy ride!