The idea of homeschooling was never on my mind when I was pregnant or even when kiddo was 2 and 3 years old. I always imagined getting him ready and sending him on the bus to start his adventure but things changed a bit and as is usually the best way to react ~ we rolled with it.
I first heard about PA Cyber School when kiddo was 4. It was Summer and a friend mentioned that she was enrolling her son for preschool. I had always done 'some' kind of school with kiddo when I was a SAHM and even when I started working part-time so the idea stuck with me. Our district didn't offer K4 and while the local church did I was turned off by them. They advertised weekly on Craigslist and a woman who must have worked there talked to me at the park one day. She said that I HAD to enroll my then 4 year old in a program so he would be properly socialized. The theme of socialization would come up many times over the next few years to the point where I cringe as soon as someone's mouth starts to form the word.
I left the playground that day slightly bitter because her 'properly socialized' child was running around like a maniac and practically eating mulch while my poor kid who was home with his parents all day was playing nicely and having a grand time. Apparently ignorance was bliss in his world since he had no idea what he was miss. Sarcasm fully intended there.
Having thought it over I decided to enroll kiddo in the PA Cyber Charter School. Why not. It was a free education. If I messed up it was 'only' K4 and it would be nice to have a curriculum to follow. Surprise surprise we loved it. I was amazed by what kiddo was learning and doing and it turned into a fantastic experience.
Soon it was time to start thinking about kindergarten and we went to the local school to meet teachers and sign him up. Kiddo was excited and as we sat there watching him color along with the other paste-eaters I was happy that I had done K4 with him - he would certainly have no trouble going to school. Then we got his schedule.
Kiddo managed to get afternoon kindergarten! Awesome for him not being a morning person. He'd leave before 8am and get home around noonish. I just had to check with my neighbor that it would be okay for him to hang at her house until I got home....that's when the 'fun' started.
First, hubby and I realized that getting kiddo TO school would require sending him to before-school care. Ouch but you do what you have to. Ugh. With nothing offered by the school we thought of our neighbor who's become a great friend and our kids get along amazingly. We found out that the bus would not pick him up from our neighbor's house to bring him to school because it was considered a 'very busy road and all bus stops along there were no longer". No kidding it's a busy road - that's why I don't want him WALKING it to get to our house in the morning so he could catch the bus. We couldn't expect her to walk him down every morning since she watched other kids and she didn't have to worry about getting her kids on the bus. We didn't know who we could depend upon to be here a few days a week to make sure kiddo was up, dressed and waiting for the bus. Afternoon kindergarten would NOT work after all
So I inquired about morning kindergarten. After a few phone calls I was finally told that it 'may' be possible to switch him to morning then I just had to worry about getting him home since I could change my schedule to get him TO school. The fun began again because this time the issue was getting him home. THERE WAS NO BUS.
So with no solution in sight to get him to school the homeschool option seemed perfect. And that neighbor didn't have to worry about the school bus because SHE TOO sent her kids to the PA Cyber Charter School.
Another awesome school year passed and kiddo did amazing. He was doing homework of peers a year ahead of him, many people who met him complimented his behavior and said he was 'really smart'. His grades were well above average and I smiled because I honestly felt he learned more than had he gone to traditional school.
But what about socialization? Oh yes, my poor child was lacking in that respect. Playdates, hanging at the neighbor's and a theater group helped with that and I dare anyone to show evidence of his lack of socialization skills.
So here we are again with another school year starting and where is kiddo going? Yes, homeschool again. I really need to stop calling it homeschool though. It's not the traditional sense of homeschool. We do classes online and he has a teacher who grades his homeworks/tests. I hate the eye rolling response I get from so many people. I hate the look people have when they ask kiddo about where he goes to school and he replies, "I don't go to school. We do school at home.". I honestly love the individualized attention he gets. If he needs help we can go slow, if he's good we keep going. Weekly homeworks sent to his teacher keep her updated on his progress as do the Dora/Dorma (Diagnostic Online Reading/Math Assessments) he takes every few months.
I feel like he has so much more opportunity and it's not like it's the easy way out. This method of education requires my participation big time. It's more than just sitting and doing homework with him at night - we do workbook pages together and projects. He'll also be taking a language this year, in first grade!!
I'm thankful that my husband is on board and happy to have so many friends who think of this form of education as perfectly fine. I see school anymore as a place to just send kids off. Like the poor little things living in day care from the time they're 6 weeks old. Parents have to work. Both parents in many cases these days are forced to head out so kids see them during the week for a few hours and maybe part of the weekend. If kids are in sports they're also being run around to practices and games much of their time. So much running around and packing stuff in. What about enjoying the day and time together? What about kids being kids. School doesn't seem like the happy place anymore. It's a place where parents expect teachers to raise their kids and hold THEM responsible when kids have problems.
Too many thoughts on this topic have led this post to go WAY out there but there are some decent points, I hope.
What do you think? IS homeschool/cyber charter school causing kids to miss out or are they gaining from the time spent with parents and like-minded families/friends?
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