Last year when my son turned 5 I sent him to a private school. Public school is out of the question where we live because they do a horrible job with kids...(ie. government did not pay the special ed service providers for over six months and therefore, kids had no services...it takes years to get services approved, although the US government requires 30-60 days...)
Anyway, he went to school for about two weeks. Week 1, great (it was a Sudbury School)...week 2? A nightmare! By then kids created their little clicks and ganged up on him, obviously...My son was kicked out...At that point, I decided to homeschool until I could find another school for him. Within a few weeks I realized he was doing so well, that I'd try it the entire kindergarten year and see how it went. If I felt he wasn't learning, then I'd just put him in kindergarten again in some other school.
Fast forward, it's been over a year and it was the best decision I ever made. Everyone is always amazed by how much he knows. I bought a great book about "unschooling", although we do different types of homeschooling...not all sit and read, but also not all child directed.
It was a great book that opened up my eyes to the things he could learn without having to sit in front of a teacher...Needless to say, he's 6...He knows ALL 50 states, their locations...he also knows how to write many words in both spanish and english...he knows the names of all planets and whether it's "cold" or "hot" in those planets...He is learning about the world and can find "Timbuktu" (or however you spell that...hehe...it's in Mali/Africa I believe...you'd have to ask him...hehe)...He does know how to count in both spanish/english, he also can do some basic math (addition...).
For a little socialization, I put him in music classes because he loves music...It's great because he gets one on one instruction once a week and once a week he goes to "practice" singing, etc...with other kids.
Many people were concerned and have harrassed us about socialization...Well, by now, all of those have shut up...Too many kids who go to regular schools and don't know how to share, he shares his stuff...always...He never hits...Other kids have hit him...He always says, Hi, Please, Thank You, Have a good day, etc...
So, at this point, after I worked for over 18 years and thought I would go crazy if I left my job and homeschooled (or became a stay at home mom), I feel it was the best decision in the world for me. It is NOT as expensive as one might think. There are hundreds of websites with free software, worksheets, etc...and again, if you find information on unschooling, you'll realize that kids can learn in many different ways.
We are now in the process to move back to the US, and not for the services he might get, but because there are so many homeschooling groups there, that he'll do that much better and have more friends to play with...hopefully, they'll be as polite and "social" as he is...
23 Dec 2007, 10:47 pm
