Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Scurry and Scratch

The worst thing about trying to homeschool and being a single parent has to be the tension that develops between working and educating you child. Working from home certainly sounded a lot easier when other people were talking about it. There always seems to be something that has to be done this second, and there never seems to be enough money.

So, what do we do? (Besides start a blog to whinge and moan in?)

First of all, realize that something is going to have to give. You can't do it alone. I moved 250 miles to be near my mother because I knew she would help with childcare. If you don't have a family member that is eager to watch your child on the days when you have to be out of the house, then try to hook up with friends, other homeschooling moms, a babysitting co-op, or in a tight pinch, a reliable babysitter for occasional days. (It's often easier to get regular days scheduled, so you might consider that as well, if you can afford it.)

Another thing to think about is ways to take your child to work with you. When The Girl was an infant I was lucky to have a job where I could take her to work with me. Now she is almost ten years old, and she generally knows how to behave when I have to have her at a job site for some reason. We often go to the library together where she can study and I can do research, get on the Internet to check mail, and work on other projects.

Finally, I have actually gotten a part-time job outside the house to smooth out my cash flow. Because it is only part time, I can still spend a lot of time at home working on my business and one our homeschooling projects, and my mom loves taking her most local grandchild on field trips while I'm out at the salt mines.

It makes for a hectic life, and a fair amount of running up and down the road in the car, but I wouldn't change it for anything.

Monday, June 4, 2007

Taking the Plunge

In my last post, I mentioned that I got a shock at the beginning of my daughter's second grade. I'm sure it was something that has happened to a lot of parents, but I couldn't believe it was happening to me. After all, I always reviewed The Girl's work and report cards, I went in for conferences when the teacher asked me to - which wasn't all that often. I helped my daughter with her homework (spelling words and math). I thought I knew about my daughter's school work and education.

Apparently, I was wrong.

My daughter's new teacher, Mrs. C, called me in shortly after school had started and explained that my daughter was almost a full year behind in her reading.

A full year.

Her reading level in first grade had hardly progressed at all - and I hadn't realized it. I found out later that her first grade teacher hadn't realized it either. The Girl is very smart and good at compensating. She didn't need to be able to read to get by in class. She had us all fooled.

That was when I started seriously considering homeschooling. Not because the school was falling down on the job - although I was pretty unhappy with things at that moment - but because I had fallen down on the job. I had abdicated the responsibility for my daughter's education to an institution, and now she was paying for it.

Luckily, Mrs. C was wonderful, and we all worked hard to make up for lost time. Eventually we discovered The Girl had a rather serious vision problem. The eye doctor was seen, glasses were bought, and The Girl began gaining ground quickly.

But I spent second grade living in her teacher's pocket, and The Girl was spending an average of two hours a night on homework - sometimes three - and she was in second grade.

There had to be a better way.

I started researching, talking to people I knew who were already homeschooling, and looking for curriculum. I didn't want to jump in unprepared, so I decided to wait a year. After all, I there was the chance my research would convince me it wasn't practical. More importantly, there was the chance that The Girl would have a strong opinion against leaving school.

Well, in just four days school lets out for the summer, and for the first time my daughter won't be saying 'see you next year' to her classmates and teachers.

Weird.

She's not leaving because she had a bad year - third grade has been wonderful. She's not leaving because she hasn't made progress - she's ahead in math and finally caught up to grade level in reading.

She's leaving because there are so many things she wants to do that she can't do if she stays in public school. (She is planning on starting Japanese in the fall, and is trying to convince me that she can do Spanish at the same time.) Turns out she does have a strong opinion about homeschooling - and is all in favor of it.

And I'm taking her out because I've figured out a schedule that will let me be in charge of her education. I want to do something more integrated, and with greater flexibility, and I think I have found the curriculum that will let me do that.

Most of all, I want to feel like I know exactly where she is at.

And so we are off! Stay tuned (and maybe wish us luck)!