Homeschool

Well, I finally did it. It’s been on my mind since before Kezia began school, and it was something I thought I would never do. I’m not the “type”, I’m too busy, and I’m not really that interested, to tell you the truth.

But I felt like it was needful for Kezia, me, and our family, so after 3+ years of being prompted, I finally went with it. I’m homeschooling Kezia (and Ivy). I’m considering doing this for just this year. So far, it is great, and it is meeting the needs that I saw we lacked.

Since Kezia was a baby, I felt like she needed a close relationship with her parents. And since before Elysse was born, I felt like I had a hard time bonding with her. So much junk was going on in our lives and I felt like she was kind of pushed aside. Then came full-time kindergarten and homework and naptime and yada yada.

For years I went back and forth on my decision. I felt like I should pull her from school and be determined to do so, and as soon as I made a “firm” decision, something would pull me toward public school and I’d stay where we were, and then I felt like I should homeschool, and so on and so on for 2 years!!!

I observed many homeschooling families and asked a ton of questions. Here is what I learned about homeschooling: 1. Wacko homeschooling parents create wacko kids; down to earth homeschooling parents create mellow kids. Hopefully we fall in the 2nd category. 2. Except for the wacko ones, in general homeschooled children appear to be more at peace; they are able to speak using eye contact more than public school children, and they seem more genuinely happy. 3. Without exception, homeschooling parents say they feel very close to their children and are happy with the decision they made. These are the things I was looking for: mellow peaceful children and a better bond with Kezia.

So finally, I was tired of my wishy-washy mind and decided I’ll just go for it. I might fall flat on my face, or I might find out this was just a wisp of a crazy idea, or this might convince me once and for all that homeschooling is not for me, or I may find the reason I felt I should do this. Either way, I conjured up the courage and pulled her from school.

And you know what? Things are working beautifully. For me, I notice that I’m not so on edge because I don’t have this feeling bugging me to homeschool (or not to homeschool?). I spend more 1-1 time with Kezia and with Ivy (Our mornings are dedicated to schoolwork), I’m a lot slower at the things I do. I now have the time to bond and get to know my daughter instead of just nag (“Hurry, let’s get to school”, “Let’s focus on homework”, “Get ready for bed” “Go to sleep so we can hurry tomorrow.”) I noticed the other day that I no longer walk on the balls of my feet, ready to hurry through life, but I stand back a bit more, more on the center of my feet.

The last few nights, Kezia has thanked Heavenly Father for the ground in her prayers, and I have to agree, feeling the ground beneath my feet again does feel good.

For Kezia, she seems a lot more at peace. We no longer have the problem of attitude or talking back (which I think might have come from the way her teacher speaks to her students), I can tell she feels more bonded with her mom, and she is progressing in the basics of education that I feel she missed in public school. For instance, she never learned how to write properly because she missed those lessons when we transferred schools. Before when I questioned her sloppy work, she’d say her teacher accepts sloppy work (who wouldn’t with 20+ kids to care for?). So we have been focusing on quality of work too. I am able to teach her reading and math at her level and skip the “busy work” assignments that she had for homework at school.


It’s been a lot of fun, especially our observations that we do. We go outside and find a bug or a plant and if possible, put it in our magnifying glass and observe. I teach the girls facts about it from what I learn on Wikipedia, and the girls draw it and Kezia writes about it. We’ve learned some pretty cool stuff, like did you know that wood lice (roly poly bugs) have gills, not lungs, and that some species have returned to water? And that if a house fly is small, it does not mean it’s a young house fly; it’s just smaller because it didn’t have enough to eat when it was a larvae? And that the seeds of the beach plant, naupaka, germinate best if they’ve floated in salt water for 250 days? Pretty cool, huh?

So there you have it. This will be week 3, and I am awaiting the day when the novelty runs off and I actually have to motivate the girls to do school. So far, that day hasn’t come and I feel lucky and blessed. If you have any experience homeschooling, I'm all ears, cause I'm no expert! Pass along the advice!