{Gratitude Challenge} Day #9

Today I am thankful for homeschooling.

Ten years ago I never thought I would be where I am today - living in the country and homeschooling not just one boy but three.

Ten years ago my oldest son was turning five. Most children who are five in our state head off to kindergarten. He had already had two years of developmental preschool for a speech delay and occupational therapy (sensory issues). In discussions with his teachers we decided to wait a year before starting him in kindergarten given that he would be turning five the week school started.

This is an option in our state. You can delay the start of kindergarten until the age of six. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the "compulsory age" for school in our state is actually 7th birthday to 17th birthday but I didn't find that out until later.

In doing research on schooling options, I realized that I did not want my son to go to the public school. He had been doing his speech therapy there and it was not a great spot. Then I sat down and did the math. You need to understand something. I am not a math person at all. But I had just quit my job to stay home to raise my boys. I figured out that my son would be spending roughly 40 hours of his awake hours a week at school - away from me. Someone else would have more time with him and thus more influence on him than I would. That just wasn't acceptable to me. I had spent the first 4-1/2 years of his life working. He had spent every day in daycare while I was at work from the time he was 10 months old until now. Now he could be home with me and I just could not send him off to school.

Thankfully I had a wonderful mentor right in my little town. She was an invaluable help to me. She encouraged me on the hard days. She supported my decision. She was amazing. This is why today I work so hard to support those I know who homeschool.

Homeschooling is hard. But for us, it was and is the best choice for school. I'm so thankful we can do this and that we have all the great support we do to educate our kids right at home.