It's addictive

We got the results from the standardized test Billie took a few months back- the official first grade test. I have to say that, apart from moments of sheer panic every once in a while, I get more and more addicted to homeschooling the more we do it. (Now that I can breath a sigh of relief and say that Billie is not, by a long shot, falling behind her peers in any subject.)

When you first consider homeschooling it sounds so out there because it's not what normal people do and you have this idea that homeschoolers are making a strange choice. But then we had homeschooling mecca with our groups and we got to be exposed to so many families and you could see that the older kids were kids who loved books, kids who played well with their friends, kids who weren't intimidated to speak with adults, kids who did what worked for them and not the crowd and it didn't seem at all like homeschooling was ruining their lives. Eventually it felt normal to be homeschoolers. And then we became official- it wasn't just Kiddiegarden anymore...now we were in the big time...SCHOOL age. Now we have come to the dark side
we're so enmeshed in following our interests and learning all the time...that conventional school seems so ODD. Like, who are these kids that actually sit at their desk?! Kids can do that?!
-waking up early in the morning...EVERY morning?
following a schedule?
getting homework done there's other kids outside at the park?
do your kids survive from 9-11:25am without a snack (because mine swear they would perish)?


Put Jackson who is academically ahead, refuses to sit still, CAN NOT contain himself from interrupting other kids, and resists authority with every atom of his being...put Jackson in a room with 20 other 5 and 6 year olds? That just seems like asking for trouble. Send Jackson into a group of his peers to learn manners, respect for others, proper speech patterns, math, spelling, don't do drugs, and State history? Um...Billie, yes...I can see that she might overcome the influence of others to memorize some facts; she LIKES following directions...but Jackson?!!!! I just don't see how it could possibly work.
With Billie I worry more about the opposite happening...she'd follow directions so well- those of the kids as well as the teacher, she picks up on trends instantly, she'd stop raising her hand if it wasn't 'cool'.
When I started homeschooling I thought it was something I could do for a while and just switch over to conventional school if I wanted to in the future. I think we'll still always give our kids the option of attending a school...and I'm not making commitments for high school at the moment. Lately, I've just been noticing that the further we get away from school...the gap grows wider. I didn't mean this to be preachy- just prepare yourselves for having some of those 'homeschooler' friends/cousins/grandkids for now and the future.