Thoughts On Homeschooling

I've been thinking a lot lately about my homeschooling journey with the kids. When Molly was 3, she started preschool at a nice private preschool in Baltimore. She loved it... for about three months. After that she started hanging out under the snack table refusing to come out. I brought her home after being told preschool was her job by the director, and attendance was mandatory. Ok, after paying a couple thousand for a preschool for a 3 year old, shouldn't that be up to me? I decided to try the homeschooling thing. Why? Mainly because I valued Molly's time. I couldn't imagine forcing her to go off for 7 hours a day 5 days a week in the near future. And for what? Busy work? Overworked and tired teachers? I really didn't see the necessity of teaching things like colors and shapes and all the assorted preschool curriculum. I thought it a much better idea to let kids explore the real world. We spent our days in museums, The Walters, the BMA, Port Discovery and the Science Center. We had so much fun, and she did manage to learn all that preschool stuff too. Added bonus, she got to paint in whatever colors she wanted, not just the one or two the teacher brought out.

Anyway, we ended up having a great first year using Five In A Row, which was a unit study type literature based program. Basically you read stories and do fun projects, crafts, field trips etc based around it. What I learned from that first year or two was the value of time. Free time. Kids in schools don't get much free time. Everything is so structured and measured. I wanted Molly to have time to play, to create, to daydream. It was a gift I could give her, and for as long as I was able, I planned on doing just that.

Fast forward two more kids later, I still love the flexibility, the beauty of homeschooling. There sre so many classes, co-ops, opportunities I don't feel the kids have lacked anything. On the contrary, they got to have a big say in what we did and learned about. Molly is now high school age, and she WANTS to go to school. So I am letting her. I was so against it at first. Specifically, the long hours, 7 or 8 at school, more homework when you get home, mean girls, boys with one thing on their minds. However, Molly really wants to try it. Molly is tired of the label people put on her because she was homeschooled. She thinks homeschoolers are dorks, unsocial misfits. She's tired of hanging out with kids who don't care about fashion, but robotics or spelling bees. sigh.. What can I do? So we went on a tour of the high school, and I have to say I was impressed. They do have lots of opportunities in drama that will make my life easier and less expensive. They have chorus and dance classes. I just hope she has time to fit in all the fun stuff.
Would I let Sophia and Ben go to school if they wanted to? Not before middle school at the least. I still really believe in the free time thing. We'll see how this goes.