Back Where We Belong

I have not blogged about homeschool nearly as much as I thought I would. To be honest, I thought I would need it more. I often use writing as a way to process. The wonderful thing I have found about teaching Wes at home is that it comes very naturally. It does not feel like work. I was just reading some of my very first blog posts and I can't believe how far we've come. All of that initial anxiety has vanished as I have watched my son become an enthusiastic and independent student of the world around him.

Now we are in 6th grade and one important thing has changed. When I first started homeschooling, I always thought that we would at least explore going back to public school. I had several reasons for this and one of the bigger ones was being around other kids. Homeschool does feel a little isolating, especially where we live. My nearest, active group of homeschoolers is not in fact very active and most of the members have very young children. So, at the beginning of this year, we went back to public school. I was not perfectly comfortable with the idea, but I felt the need to explore public school one more time.

Our schools start early, so we just finished the first quarter. It was always my plan to take a good hard look at how things were going at this point and decide how to proceed. It was a no brainer to run, not walk, back to homeschool. It would be easy to kick myself for even exploring going back, but that wouldn't serve much purpose. All I can say is that after nine weeks, I'll never worry about whether I'm making the right decision again. Homeschool is simply where Westen learns the best. It's here where he is allowed to explore, create, build, write and problem solve without any distractions. It's where he thrives.

With a renewed passion for this path we are on, I have made one more change. Since I believe Wes will homeschool through 12th grade, I wanted to be a part of an accredited online school. I didn't have to search for the right school, because I've been carrying a particular one around in my back pocket so to speak. It's the place I've always known I would choose when the time was right. Now Wes is enrolled in the Global Village School. For me, the Global Village School is almost too good to be true. Their philosophy and mine are perfectly in tune and I can't wait to get started on their curriculum. This year feels like a new beginning. This time there is nothing but pure joy in the process which is exactly what learning should be!