Tuesday, August 14, 2007

What If...I Un-Schooled My Child?

Well, my friends, this possibility is becoming a reality very soon. In the next couple of weeks, I will send my younger children off to school and keep my older child, Tristan, at home with me. Why?

I always dreamed of educating my children in a more focused way. In the back of my mind, I would ponder...if I home-school each of my children through their middle school years (7th and 8th grade) then I would have really focused one-on-one time with each...as my children are 2 1/2 years apart.

The time has crept up on me. My son will be entering 7th grade this year and the time has come. For the last year, my husband and I have discussed it thoroughly. At first, we didn't include Tristan in the conversation. But, at the beginning of the summer we began discussing educational options with him. Much to our surprise, Tristan is really excited about this new chapter in his life. Thus, a home-schooling mom, I will soon become.

As I look at this "picture" of our life for the next year, I see something quite unique from society's norm. You see, I am really interested in "un-schooling" Tristan. No doubt, he will learn. As the matter of fact, I'm kind of taking the easy route. I've enrolled him in an online academy. But, what I am really excited about is teaching Tristan very specific "life skills". Everything from cooking to praying, cleaning to Biblical study, what it means to be a man (dare I?) to what it means to be a woman.

I've even been contemplating a "ceremony" of sorts for his 13th birthday. A rite of passage, so to speak, into manhood. (What do I know about manhood, right? Well, I know a few good men who will help me out!)

So...once again, I am entering new territory. Keep us in your prayers. I'm anticipating a great year...full of surprises. I'll keep you posted on our progress, no doubt!

7 comments:

Lori Arriaga said...

Randee, what an exciting time for you and your son. The benefits your son and the whole family is going to receive from this completely outweigh the negatives that may come up on those inevitable bad days from time to time. I look forward to hearing how things go.

achildoftheking said...

wow Randee... What an journey that will be for your family.

Homeschooling wasn't popular when my daughter was that age. If I knew I couldl've done it my child would've been homeschooled. She would be a total different person than she is now.

I look forward to your updates. (=
--
Kimberly

Anne said...

Randee, I think it's going to be a wonderful year for both you and your son. Carman would have loved being homeschooled at that age. Of course now in high school he's much too social to want to be homeschooled - and loves his filmmaking/multimedia courses too much with all the state-of-the-art equipment! But middle school years can be rough ones, and I'm so glad for Tristan that he has this option!

Randee said...

So, I officially enrolled Tristan today and set up his placement test for next week.

He'll have to take a 4 hour test to determine where he is. Then a curriculum will be custom fit for him.

How exciting! Today, as I sent the younger children off to school, Tristan and I had lunch together talking and laughing.

How glorious. I have such a neat kid! (Says the proud mom.)

LaTara Ham-Ying said...

Randee,
What a blessing this time will be for you. I homeschool my oldest and I love it. The time spent together and the growth he has shown has been so invaluable to me.

Lori is right when she says the whole family will benefit.

Shalene said...

I'm going to try to keep up to date on this one. I admit the thought has crossed my mind more than once, and it's not that I don't think my kids could do just fine at home schooling, it's whether or not I could. By the end of the summer, I'm usually ready for some down time, though, I must say, for some reason, I'm not looking forward to it as much as I usually do this year..... Anyway, love to hear how it goes for you! Can you send me the info about the online school? And is it something available in all states or just yours?

Randee said...

Thank you, LaTara. I am sure that I will be seeking the wisdom of fellow home-schooling moms like you and Lori this year. I am excited and so is Tristan!

Shalene, I have enrolled Tristan in the Alpha Omega Academy. It's a private Christian school that has an online option.

I think the link is www.aop.com where you can click on the "Academy" link. (I think...)

Check it out. Very impressive!