First I want to talk about why we decided to homeschool....for this year. We are taking homeschooling year by year, we might be done after this year, or go on for 5-10 more years. We also thought Kindergarten was a great option as well and even had him registered. We pulled him out 5 days before the deadline!
-My mom had cancer about 5/6 years ago....she has never fully recovered. She has a permanent feeding tube, a saliva sucker, can't swallow a thing. She has lost so much weight there is no more to lose. she is very weak and can barely walk these days. My stepfather died 2 years ago, and she went into a new state of depression. Although when I went home last Sept it was the best I had seen her in 2 years.We took on her first trip out of the house in NINE months! I wanted to have flexibility over the next year or two in case she were to get worse. My brother, even though he lives right next to her, works full time and can't quit his job if she needs more. My brother has done SOOO much for my mom and I want to be ready to help my mom if she needs something. If Jackson is in school I can't just go to Texas for a month if I need to go help.
-Dave doesn't have vacation whenever he wants. Although we can kind of have an idea of when we might be able to take a few days, really our schedule is based or when projects start and end. His last project ended the first week of September, we had one week off before the next phase...that's just the time he had. So it will be nice to have a little more flexibility to go to Texas to see the family as a family.
-I started teaching Jackson when he was three how to recognize his ABC's, nature walks. At 4 we really learned how to write all the letters and start working on sounds. When he turned 5 he started getting into math and spelling words...it has been so great to watch him learn and it's great to watch it continue this year into reading, memorizing Bible verses, harder math, you know 12+3, not 2+3 :) . I love watching it click in his mind. To see him figure out a word he has never read and the joy in his face when he GETS it is so great!!! So it's really wonderful to be a part of this! We like knowing what he is learning and being an active part in that.
-I really like the Charlotte Mason homeschooling ways. I don't follow it exactly, they say you don't even formally teach until 6, well Jackson is VERY ready, so we are going pretty full force. I do use some workbooks (they aren't too into them), I do have 2 small children so I have to have things for him to work on. But I really love reading the living books and all the outdoor learning. Now it might be hard in the winter to have a lot of outside time, but we will worry about that when we get there. I wish I had had this type of learning growing up, I think I would have done much better in school. You don't just memorize facts, but you learn them in story form, which makes it much easier to remember! The nice thing about Charlotte Mason (CM) is that it also really emphasizes good habits for children and how to really learn to listen, be obedient, do their best at all times, learn the Bible and really just learn about the world (just to name a few).
-The town where I live has a GREAT support group for homeschooling. Jackson even has his second field trip this week! He has plenty of opportunities to do things with other kids...in fact 3 of my neighbors homeschool! I LOVE having my boy around with me a little longer, he is such a huge blessing to me and to his brother and sister!
These are most of our main reasons and I hope this all makes sense. We love homeschooling and would be happy to do it a few more years, but if Jackson goes to school next year that would be okay too. We know that he could be a blessing to many others and we just want to be obedient to what God is calling us to do!
