So what made us Homeschool?

When there were only 3 of us

   When Funky Monkey was just a little boy I vowed to find the best fitting education for him that I could. He was an only child untill he was 3.5 years old. As much as I loved spending time with him I also realized that he needed some "kid-time." So when I was pregnant with Girly Monkey we made the decision to sign him up for preschool. I spent many days researching the best options. After a while I was convinced that one of these expensive preschools that offered to make your child super smart was the best option. After all they had flashy ads in urban parent magazines and they offered things like Latin and science for your 3-year-old. Having always been a fan of good quality education I was sucked into thinking that they were the best. So a little after his 3rd birthday we went shopping for Funky Monkey's school uniform. That's right, this preschool required all the kids to have gray pants and white top. They didn't require us to purchase the actual school uniform until we were at the school for couple of weeks. I am now glad because the uniform was super expensive. So few weeks later off went Funky Monkey to his first week of school. Because I was a stay-at-home mom I only needed for him to attend school for 3 half days.

Funky Monkey painting eggs

   The first week I noticed that he was extremely tired when he came from school. He was overstimulated and cranky (must have been all that science and Latin lessons!) Then the lovely teacher that he had started with left and new teacher was assigned to his class. I was informed that the teacher didn't have all her credentials yet, but she was in the process of obtaining them. That's right, the school that we paid 275 dollars for 3 half days didn't require their teachers to be certified before they started teaching the class!
One day when I came to pick him up and I arrived 20 minutes early, I noticed that the teacher was yelling at his class while they were outside. The kids looked nothing like the happy kids in shiny ads that the school presented as their standard. Everyone looked miserable. That was a final straw. The school was in the business of making money not educating their kids. 

On the way to the expensive preschool

   Luckily, it was end of school year and we were moving to a new place. Once again I looked for alternatives. I found a preschool attached to a public school. Their admission for 3 half days was only 125 dollars a month! When I came to take a look at the school the kids looked happy and healthy. They emphasized that they are not in business of making kids smarter, rather they wanted to focus on social development. The preschool teachers believed that at this age social development and light preparation for school was all that was necessary. I agreed. Having previously worked with kids and studied child psychology I couldn't agree with that concept any more. So Funky Monkey ended up going to that school for 2 years. For the most part we were happy with it. But then came the time for kindergarten registration. When we lived at the previous address we had an option of registering our kids to an art school, but when we moved we realized that the new city didn't have an art school. So our next option was to register Funky Monkey at the same school where he was attending preschool for the last 2 years. So I stood in line to get into that school (out of catchment since it wasn't our neighborhood school). Then I went to the informational meeting and I was a little put off. At recess the kids would play in the yard unsupervised (all the kids from the whole school with one parent volunteer overseer). There would be 2 kindergarten teachers taking over for my son's class, and they both did things differently. And then there were the looming cut backs to public schools that would jeopardize art classes and music classes. I wasn't crazy about all the things I was hearing. So I started looking for more options. 

Being silly in daddy's shoes

   Few years prior to signing up Funky Monkey for kindergarten,  I heard about homeschooling from our insurance agent. He boasted how great it was for his son, who had Autism and could not fit in in a regular classroom. Although Funky Monkey didn't have any such disability he still learned in a different way than most kids. He liked to be in charge of what he learned and when. This created a bit of an issue in the last months of preschool, and I was sure it would cause more problems once he got to kindergarten. So I looked into Homeschooling more and more. When I finally told my husband he was a little concerned, but since he is the best husband and dad in the world he supported my decision all the way. So we decided to go forward with it. Try it out, if you may. Our real life support system people weren't as convinced that we were doing the right thing. But that did not stop us. I wanted to give my kids a private school education without paying 1000+ dollars per month. I phoned the school where I registered Funky Monkey to kindergarten and canceled his registration. Then I called a school that specialized in distance learning and homeschooling and registered him there. Bonus was that I got 150 dollars from that school that could go towards his school supplies. After that first year we were hooked! Homeschool fit with our family and lifestyle. When it was time for Girly Monkey to start preschool we didn't even bother to send her to an actual school. We homeschooled her for preschool, and now we are about to homeschool our Little Monkey for the first time. 

All three kids learning at the table

   We revise our decision every year, and we always look into what is best for our  kids. Right now homeschooling fits. If at any time it's not the best option for any of the kids then we'll change. But right now this is what our family does. 

   So how do we Homeschool? Check out my next post to find out!