The Paleo Mama

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Homeschooling

5 Reasons Why I Put My Child in Public School…and Regretted It.

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If you’re expecting some extreme circumstance that led to my decision to pull my little farm girl from public school and homeschool, then you are going to be unhappy. Sometimes decisions are made, not on impulse or out of anger, but because we simply decided to listen to something that all mothers possess…our mommy gut.

My mommy gut has been screaming at me for years to homeschool my children but when the time came in August to enroll her in public school, I found myself, reluctantly, at the open house and shaking hands with her extremely nice and lovable Kindergarten teacher.

This post isn’t about bashing the public school system. I loved my daughter’s Kindergarten teachers and so did my daughter. This post is about some things that we might all have in common. I love teachers and I think they do an amazing job at nurturing our children the best that they can. However, I’m better at nurturing my children then they are…because I’m their mommy.

Today is my daughter’s last day in public school. Here’s a short list of things that helped us come to this decision.

5 Reasons Why I Put My Child in Public School…and Regretted It:

1) I Was Too Busy

I’m always too busy. Too busy for this and too busy for that and no time for anything extra. And let’s face it, homeschool is EXTRA. I made excuses how I couldn’t do it and there was no free time in my schedule. Granted, I was VERY busy at the beginning of the year but my daughter should have come first.

2) I Couldn’t Do It: 

The responsibility of educating my child was going to be in my hands??? No way jose’! I doubted myself, my abilities to be able to give her ALL she needs and I took no responsibility. I didn’t want it. It’s much easier to pass this off to a actual, real “teacher” instead of owning up to it myself.

3) It’s “Just” Kindergarten: 

She’s gonna go play half the day and make friends. There’s no real learning in Kindergarten…right? I can brush this year off and start to really focus on what we want to do in first grade.

4) I’ll Have No “Me” Time

Sometimes this girl drives me crazy and I think we would be better if we had a little space. She goes to school and then comes home to me and that time away will be just what we need. Mommy needs time to herself and time away makes me appreciate them so much more.

5) She Needs Friends

Little Farm Girl is one of the most lovable, sociable girls I have ever met. She has the personality of her father…a social butterfly that thrives on being around people. I can’t take this from her and keep her home. I need to allow her to have her time with her friends.

SHUT UP Jackie!

Seriously, I’m killing myself with all these negative talks I have going on in my brain. I go back-and-forth and I’m, constantly, overcoming my own personal doubts. But one thing I have learned about myself over the last few years is: 1) never let doubt make a decision. 2) Never say never. 3) If your heart is speaking it, JUST DO IT.

You see I feel so relieved to have overcome those 5 reasons! I, literally, BROKE each one and overcame the doubt that I would not be able to do this.

I made a plan and I am going to make this work! 

5 Reasons Why I CAN Homeschool:

1) I Am Busy, but Never Too Busy

My kids come first. Their education is very important to me. I am so blessed to be able to work from home. I’m even more blessed that my income is retiring my husband very soon! So, yes, I am busy right now, but I have time for my little Farm Girl. Time is something that is coming and going so fast. I am, literally, watching my children grow up before my own eyes. THIS is the perfect opportunity to savor their lives and learn together. I am so excited about this opportunity to homeschool them! And you know what? When I add my kids education to my plate, I take something off that is not fulfilling me. Easy peasy!

New Homeschooling Mom Suggestion: Get over yourself and hire someone to clean your house OR download this awesome app that helps you keep up with daily cleaning tasks!

2) I TOTALLY Can Do This! 

I am smart. I am productive. I am creative. I can teach my children about life and the world around them. I have the resources at my fingertips!

We appreciate a literature-based approach to education. In fact, the more I was learning and researching about Common Core Standards (which are the standards that are the foundation to most public schools), the more I was worried about what they were learning. I wanted my child to be an individual. In my opinion, Common Core is the widget approach to education. With the right processes and production standards, they can manufacture students the same way they manufacture products. Like any successful industry, efficiency and consistent outcomes are the name of the game. Apply that model to education, and Common Core makes sense to them.

The problem is, my child is not a widget, and education is not designed to produce economic automatons.

Great video on Common Core:

So, we ordered Sonlight curriculum. I needed something to really help me get moving this first year. Something that was SPELLED out for me. I needed organization and a schedule and something just TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO! I love the Charlotte Mason approach and I plan on implementing that into our education, as well. But this first year, as I get my feet wet, we will be using the Sonlight curriculum.

3) It’s More than JUST Kindergarten

It’s a foundation. It’s showing her the world around her. It’s experiencing things together. It’s about learning together. Her teacher last week told us that she had already “passed” Kindergarten in her first month of being in school. Well, what the heck is she gonna do the rest of the year? Now, I can meet her where she is at. If she moves on to first grade reading by Christmas, then so be it. If we have to repeat math next year, then so be it!

I GET TO TEACH MY DAUGHTER TO READ and that is an amazing thing! The ability to read is something she will use every, single day for the rest of her life and I get to teach that to her!

4) It’s NOT About Me

Who cares if I have no “me” time. I had kids and they are more important than me. Plus, I can make time for myself when I need it (hello YMCA…I’m hear to “work out” for 2 hours)…hehe, just kidding (not really).

Why does my “me” time need to be alone. My “me” time will turn into WE time and we can discover the world together. We can get haircuts and pedicures together DURING SCHOOL HOURS (gasp!) and we can go to the nearby waterfalls and sit and read. There’s so much to do and I’m not worried about myself anymore. I’m worried about her.

5) She Will Have So Many Friends

She already has her first homeschool art function today at a nearby art museum! I’m picking her up at lunchtime and we are going right there! She didn’t even want to go to her last day of public school today because she is so ready to get out of the classroom.

I signed up for local homeschool association. OMG there is so much stuff to do. Probably more than I’ll be able to do with my kids. Also, she will have some enrichment classes at a local Montessori school! I was so happy to be able to give her this! I love Montessori and there is a local school that has a Kindergarten curriculum.

I CAN TOTALLY DO THIS…and you know what, YOU CAN TOO!

5 Reasons I Put My Child in Public School and Regretted It

A Day in the Life of “Homeschooling”: From Sheep to Sweater

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My favorite thing about having my kids at home with me is the opportunity to teach them valuable lessons from everyday life. I feel it is so important for them to understand the process of hard work…learning that an egg just doesn’t come from the grocery store…or that a sweater isn’t just as easy as grabbing from Walmart. No, I believe in teaching them the process behind things so that they can fully appreciate what they have.

Lesson from the Land: From Sheep to Sweater – grab your kids and do this with them!

Today’s random lesson came when I saw this picture of a Valais Blacknose Sheep from Switzerland. I called my daughter over to come look at how adorable they are.

sheep

This started the conversation of their wool and how we use their wool to make many, many kinds of clothes. I grabbed my son’s wool sweater and put my new wool socks on and proceeded to tell them the process from sheep to sweater.

Thank God for You Tube! First we talked about sheep and the many uses for them. They have delicious milk, they provide meat, but most of all, people have been using their fur for many, many years. I told them how the farmer let’s their wool grow all year long, but when winter is over, in the spring, he SHEARS them.

“Does it hurt?” asked my daughter.

“Not at all! The farmer has special scissors or clippers that make the job easy. ” Then we watched this video of a farmer shearing his sheep.

They watched it intently for the whole 8 minutes. We watched how carefully he held the sheep and how good the sheep was.

Then we talked about what happens after the sheep is sheared. All the wool is now spun into yarn. Today, it’s easier to do this cause man has machines. But, back in the day, it was a careful process that was all done by hand.

We watched this video of a lady spinning wool into yarn by hand.

We finished off our lesson reading a beautiful book called, “A New Coat for Anna.” I was happy to have this book in our collection and we all snuggled together and read the story. It is about a little girl who needs a new coat. Her mother sets out to find a good farmer with sheep and purchases the wool. She then takes the wool to a lady to spin. Then she takes it to a lady to weave it. And finally she takes the cloth to a tailor to make a special red coat for Anna. The whole process takes a little under a year! It made me realize how much we have forgotten about this whole process of waiting for things to come into season.

If you don’t have the book, you can CLICK HERE to watch a book reading on You Tube.

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It was a wonderful lesson that just randomly happened when we saw a cute little sheep! These opportunities are always available to us…we just need to have a watchful eye for when they pop up!