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Flexibility
I’m not a super structured person, I love to take spontaneous trips. I hate early mornings. With homeschool, I could be in charge of all those things! Learning about the ocean, let’s go! Space study, let’s spend the night at NASA. We can take school with us on every vacation and not miss a beat!
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Schools are built for the norm, not for the individual child
And that’s great, if your kid fits the norm. But what if they have exceptionalities? What if they recite poetry most efficiently while balancing upside-down on a yoga ball? What if they remember multiplication facts more easily in the pool? What if cooking is a better fractions tool than manipulatives? What if dyslexia means going slower in reading but excelling in math? Again, homeschooling allowed us this advantage.
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Family time
Plain and simple, I love spending time with my people. I still love and enjoy girls’ nights & mom-cations. But overall, I’d like to be the one teaching my kids how to problem solve, how to handle hard things, all about sex Ed, and overall I just enjoy knowing what their strengths are and finding ways to expand that knowledge. My kids have a great bond, they’re truly best friends and I love watching those relationships grow!
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It’s faster!
A typical school day for us is 2-3 hours (4th, 1st, PreK). WHAT?! How do you school in 3 hours and my kid is in school for 7 hours?! Simply put? I’m only schooling 2.5 kids, not 31. My classroom is smaller, and attention is individualized. I don’t have to settle kids in from drop-off, lunch, recess, water fountain breaks, bathroom breaks, or even the changing of subjects. When school is individualized, things can move faster and smoother.
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Socialization
My kids get to visit people and places most don’t. They get to interact with peers of various ages because they’re not separated in classrooms by age. We have co-ops, field trips, and extracurriculars. I’d argue that my homeschool kids are more socially prepared to articulate needs with a variety of age groups than most.
- the Mason’s have a dyslexia reading program
- LSU Speech, Language, & Hearing has reading therapy if you can score a spot
- the Chesney Center has one of the most sought-after reading SLPs around
- OG curriculum like Barton or Logic of English
- LA Key Academy – a charter school that only accepts students on the dyslexia spectrum
Ultimately, after lots of research and consultations with our professionals, we landed on a trial year at a school that focuses on Dyslexia and its specialized learning tools. We plan to use this year to arm the two of us with tools to better serve her needs. Was this decision wrought with tears & fears from both of us? Absolutely. Has it been the easiest transition? Absolutely not. It’s a lot of structure for some folks who haven’t *had* to be places for a long time. But we’re taking it a day at a time, learning new things, and reminding ourselves that just like curriculum, we can toss it and start fresh if we need to!
In the meantime, we’ve spent hundreds of dollars on uniforms (I’ve got lots of opinions on this). We’ve invested in school supplies. We’ve bought the clear backpack that is somehow supposed to save our kid’s life. We’ve jumped into insanely long school days, so much homework, and the after-school overstimulated meltdowns. But I’ve also been thanked by my kid because she’s already covered all the things they’re learning in math this year, most of science, and a good bit of social studies. “Mom, I thought I might be behind in some things, but I’m not!” The beauty of zooming ahead on subjects we didn’t struggle with! Here’s to improving our reading skills to that same benefit! Pray for us as we all adjust to the early mornings and overscheduling!
So whether you homeschool, regular school, or school at home the best part is knowing you’re doing what’s best for you and your kid! That may look like schooling on the go, IEPs, or even fighting for more recess time. In the meantime, go easy on yourself. You’re doing great, this is all really hard.
