Interview, Part IV

Did you always want to be a homeschooler? Were you scared of that responsibility when you decided to go for it?

I never really gave it serious thought until Spyder was ready to enter kindergarten. Skeeter and I were in debate over what to do -- homeschool? public school? private school? -- so I decided to call the schools we were considering to learn about the structure and what they'd be teaching.

I called four schools. The answers from all of them were pretty much the same -- learning letters, numbers, colors. Everything that the teachers mentioned was something that Spyder could do already. He would have been bored out of his mind. And anyone who knows him already knows that Spyder + bored = trouble.

So we decided to homeschool for kindergarten. After some initial bumps, the kindergarten year worked out well. By the time first grade rolled around, I gave Spyder the option, going to school or continue homeschooling. He chose homeschooling, and we've been going strong ever since.

We have a long "review" discussion over several days at the end of every year, just to make sure that he's still getting what he wants and needs from his education. This year, he strongly considered going to school, so we went to check out what was offered. Ultimately, he decided that the school wasn't what he wanted and decided to continue with homeschooling, with us implementing a few changes that he requested.

Some days it does overwhelm me, both the responsibility and the day-to-day tasks. What parent hasn't felt that way at one time or another? And yes, some days I long for time alone, for time to complete projects or tasks uninterrupted. But for now, homeschooling is the best thing for my children, so I give the time to them gladly. As with most things, it's a work in progress.