Last year I decided I wanted to homeschool my preschool aged son and it has been SO fun but also stressful. My plan was depending on how it went and what his needs were, I would then decide whether or not to continue to homeschool him for kindergarten. So far, that continues to be my plan.
He’s technically too little to go to kindergarten this year – he’ll barely turn 5 the day before the first day of school! Most kids would be turning 6 shortly after school starts, if not already 6. I don’t want to rush him into something he wouldn’t be ready for with his current mature level. I also have many friends and family who had the same dilemma (due to birth date and age at school start date) and every single one of them had said that they wish they had waited an extra year so that their kids wouldn’t have had such a tough time!
The plan is that next year he will start kindergarten at our local school (still depending on what we feel is best) BUT now since this whole coronavirus thing started and school being all over the place with digital learning, I’m not so sure what the future holds.
My daughter is bombarded with school work – even MORE work than what she did while school was in session. She’s stressing. Teachers are sending me so many emails that I can barely keep up with and some even have the audacity to say if work isn’t turned in within a day or two, the grade for the assignment will go down a grade for each day it’s not turned in. Not to mention, each teacher has a different platform they have chosen to do assignments through so she has to download and create accounts in like 4 different places and it’s just ridiculous. Thank God she’s blessed to have the access she needs but what about the kids that don’t? Have they even thought about them in this already stressful situation? She loves school – loves going, being with friends, actually sitting and learning – but lately she has actually asked me if I would homeschool her. In all honesty, depending on what happens with the virus over the summer, I might just have to.
With my son, it’s a little different. I can’t really mess him up too much. He’s learned SO much and is even in 1st grade level in some areas! But since he’s just starting out it’s easier to make a decision regarding his future schooling choice. With my daughter however, I’m terrified I would hold her back or mess her up. She’s in 6th grade and all her classes are advanced curriculum. Sometimes she asks me things that I don’t even remember the answers to and I feel like a complete idiot. I would hate to hold her back if I do something wrong. I know there are a lot of resources to help and I’ve heard that homeschool parents are so open to help others. I’m still scared of taking that step with her. But like I said, depending on how everything goes, I might just have to.
I’m preparing myself and doing so much research about different curriculum. I pretty much have everything picked for my daughter but I’m not 100% set on the math curriculum because I’m so scared I’ll mess that up. Lucky for me, I kept in touch with her math teacher from her previous school and I know she will help me make the best choice. It’s still a very scary road.
I’m sure many parents are feeling the pressures of decisions regarding the future education of their children and keeping them safe. Not a lot of parents have the flexibility to stay home and make the decision to homeschool. It’s hard for me to make that choice as a SAHM so I can understand how impossible it may be for a working parent.
I don’t know what the future holds or how long this will last for. The question is – when schools/businesses start back up, will it be safe? Or will we end up back in the situation we are now?
our brick colonial 