“Yes, this is a picture of my son,” a lady across from me offered as I looked at his adorable little face.  I inquired of his age and when learning he was old enough for school I asked how he was enjoying it.  She assured me he liked it.

“That must be nice,” I commented over my cup of water before taking a sip.

“What?” she looked up from her photos.

“To have all that free-time, while he’s at school.” I added noticing people exchanging glances.

“Oh, we homeschool,” she smiled at me.

“No kidding?  Really?”  I hadn’t met too many who actually did that and I myself was looking forward to sending the kiddos off to school (I’m so ashamed to admit that now).

“Yes, we decided we would before we even had kids.”

“Wow, there is no way I could do that,” my eyes grew large at the thought.

“Why not?” She wanted to know.

How on earth was I to answer that question?  That’s like someone has just tossed a grenade your way.  You know no matter what you say, an explosion is likely happening.  I thought for a moment and then rattled off things like, my lack of patience, his social skills, wanting some time to myself….blah, blah, blah.  Expecting her to get her back up she simply said, “well, it isn’t for everyone.”  I ended up asking her a few questions, as did the host of the crop party.  At one point we were listening to her spell out her entire day.  It sounded so tiring to me and I commented, “well, more power to ya  – I know I couldn’t do it.”

“Well, like I said, it isn’t for everyone.”  There it was again.  Is that some sort of a challenge?  What, like she’s part of some elite club of “super moms”?  I wondered silently while maintaining my pasted on smile.  I told myself that I had my reasons for not homeschooling and that they were valid reasons.  Suddenly the host of the crop informs that she’s considering at least trying it for a year.  I was shocked!  No way, not me, I resolved silently. 

The drive home I couldn’t get that homeschooling mom out of my mind.  I didn’t share my thoughts right away with Erik.  We were starting our son in a private preschool two days a week (3K) and what I was considering would likely surprise him.  I wasn’t sure what I believed myself but that homeschool mom sure did make a lot of sense.  Maybe I had been conned into believing that I must put him in preschool so he could “learn how to be around other kids” before he actually started kindergarten.  He already knew almost everything they would be teaching so the sole purpose of sending him really was to “socialize” and get a feel for a classroom setting.  Unfortunately, because he was ahead of his classmates, he was bored and quickly became pegged as the troublemaker.  Not because he was a bad kid, just active.  On the days that they studied things that interested him, he was an angel.  One of his teachers asked me if I had ever had him evaluated as ADHD.  I looked at her like she was crazy.  “They have medications now…”  Is she insane?  There’s nothing wrong with this child, he’s a boy for crying out loud.  I knew from working with him at home that if you kept his brain busy he loved learning and if you disciplined him, he behaved.  Sitting still was not his strong suite but apparently that’s normal for boys (I’ve done plenty of reading since that first preschool experience).

Toward the end of 3K I was growing more and more convinced that I needed to look into this whole homeschooling thing.  I didn’t like picking him up at class to be given a laundry list of all the times he talked or moved.  Even more alarming were the papers sent home didn’t reflect at all what I knew he was capable of.  So, I began the quest for knowledge.  What I discovered was amazing.  L was a normal kid and it was very likely he could “get lost in the system” being as bright and inquisitive as he is.  I didn’t want him “classified” early on and then have difficulty shaking that stereotype later.  Also, I feared he wasn’t learning anything because he was distracted or bored.

I must add here that Erik was not on board with even having thoughts about homeschooling.  I did the research though and went to him one day armed with data (techies like data).  I wouldn’t supersede whatever he felt was best but I wanted him to make an educated decision.  We talked for a while and he was still against it.  A few days later while praying, the Lord gave me an idea.  I went back to Erik and asked for a compromise for 4K.  I suggested that he could still go to preschool two days a week and then we could homeschool the other three.  I suggested that this could be a trial period and since 4K “doesn’t count” it wouldn’t be like I was messing up his education or anything.  He liked the idea very much.  I think the concept of this was rather intimidating for both of us and a trial year would give us more to base the ultimate decision on. 

After our first homeschool day, L couldn’t wait for Erik to get home so he could tell him what he learned.  To be honest, that first day sealed it for us.  When Erik stepped through that door L ran to him with his school work and told him everything we did.  Erik looked at me and said, “wow, he’s actually excited about learning.”  We were both pleasantly surprised.  How could we not continue after the results we were getting.

Shortly after preschool began that year we had parent teacher conferences.  I sat across from one of his teachers as she struggled to find the piece of paper he supposedly wrote his name on.  I couldn’t wait to see it because I felt she’d finally realize how bright he was as I knew he could write his entire name quite well.  My excitement turned to dismay when she held up a piece that had a few scribbled lines on it.  “Maybe this is his?” she offered.  “No, I don’t think so.  Lee can write his entire name.”  She then suggested that maybe he was absent that day.  I informed her that he hadn’t missed a day yet.  She had no answer.  Sigh.  Two teachers to 18 kids and they had no idea what he was cable of.  She didn’t even know he could read already.  Incidentally we were called out of that meeting because my darling son was being written up for cursing at another child on the playground.  As it turned out the child he cursed at had said the same thing to him and he was just repeating it back.  The other child was known for using horrible language but my son was the one written up that day.  Nice.

At the Christmas party just before winter break, L gave his teachers cards where he’d drawn the picture for the front (I scanned it into the printer and printed it on the front of all of our cards that year).  Both teachers came to me, “Lee drew this?”  It astounded me that they had no idea what an incredibly talented boy he was.  He drew elaborate pictures all over his writing pages each day and would bring them home to me.  By winter break we were tired of it.  What was I sending him there for -  to learn curse words and be overlooked?  We pulled him out during winter break and never looked back.

We plan to let all of them go to 3K, mainly as a bit of a break from us and because it’s kind of “tradition” now.  After that though, we do the homeschool thing.  Most family and friends were skeptical at first but they’ve been pleasantly surprised.  I’ve even managed to somehow convince others to do the same.  People who told me “oh never, I could never do that,” are now holding school in their own living rooms, kitchens and dens.  So, to all you homeschooling moms out there, “more power to us!”