Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Yes, I Am Crazy....


I have officially gone crazy. I am going to homeschool my 7th grader, Noah, next year. I have no idea how this will go: Will he give me grief each day? Will he live through this experiment? Will I stroke out on this experiment? Nonetheless, I have decided to do it. Luckily, I have no hair so pulling my hair out isn't an option! Hopefully, it will go well and be the answer to my prayers. Why, you ask? Well, many reasons...First, he's been threatened with it many times, so I must follow through (Not that homeschooling is a punishment...so don't take it that way!) I have always wondered if traditional school is right for Noah. Also, he has such a need to please his friends...(not us at all!) that his decision making skills are poor. I really feel that some one on one time with him will influence him more than the 1000 mini lectures he gets each day. He has had a fairly good year of 6th grade being in the least amount of trouble than other grades, but I'm concerned he will get lost being given too much freedom. Have I convinced you yet? I'm still trying to convince myself...but it boils down to this: If I don't step in during this window of opportunity to influence him, then the window will close and I will lose this chance. He means too much to me to not try it. So, pray for me...I'm going to need it. Pray for him too...I'm a task master when I'm in teacher mode!
Love to you all~
Janice

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't think you're crazy. I admire you for considering his needs above anything else. I WILL pray for you. I bet if you can figure out (if you don't already know) Noah's learning style and let him out of the box of what he's experienced already, it will be wonderful.

Joanna Christiansen said...

Well obviously as a homeschooler myself I think you are making a good decision for him. You should join our homsechool group. Beth Barker is going to start homeschooling her oldest daughter next year as well, and she has already joined us. I can send you an invite to our meetup group if you are interested. You might also be interested in applying for Sky Mountain Charter school for him. Its what we use and most of the homeschoolers in our area that use a charter use Sky Mountain because they allow the biggest budget per child. $900 per semester to use on school supplies, curriculum of your choice, and extra-curricular activities such as music, art, drama, sports, etc. Its nice not having to pay for that stuff out of your own pocket and then they will administer the California State standardized tests, and keep school records for you. You just meet with an Education Specialist once a month to turn in work samples. Most of their people are Christian which is nice.