When I was a little girl I said I wanted to be a teacher ‘just like mommy.’ As I grew older the desire to teach increased. In my teen years, I planned to get my PhD in history and teach college level and write fiction on the side.
To be honest, my reality came very close to that dream. I'm now a published author, I gained my degree in history and I started teaching middle school shortly after college. Several years later, I had a son in kindergarten, I was teaching 8th grade at a large Christian school and I was pregnant with son #2.
I faced a dilemma at the end of that year. Should I go back to work and put my baby in childcare or stay home? Well, to be honest, the decision was an easy one. My older son had struggled in kindergarten--not academically--but socially and emotionally. He needed a break and more one on one time. Besides, I really didn't want to send my baby off to be raised by someone else.
So I decided to try homeschooling for a year. My mom, who was also a teacher, had stayed home with my brothers and sisters for one year and did the homeschooling thing. I could do it too.
That first year, I learned a lot about homeschooling and even teaching. At the end of the year, we decided to homeschool again for ONE MORE YEAR. We did that for four years. Finally in year five, I realized we were probably going to be doing this for awhile. In fact, my oldest son told me last year in sixth grade that he wanted to do this all the way through high school. So I went to a seminar for homeschooling in high school and read some books. We are in it for the long haul now.
Last fall, my baby boy started kindergarten and that meant teaching two kids. I just keep learning, changing and adjusting. It's been a great six years. Son #1 is halfway through to graduation. I can't wait.
No comments:
Post a Comment