We’re into the first week of our official not going to school experience, and I’m enjoying it. Socially, I’m feeling a little odd, since almost all of the other children my daughter’s age are trundling off to the local school for the day. Yesterday we did phonics, writing and patterns in the morning and hiked in the afternoon, met a lot of beautiful slugs, and ended up having tea at the corner store, all before the other kindergarten children were out for the day.
I know that at some point, someone is going to ask us why we’re homeschooling. I’ve answered this question within our own families, but it’s now obvious that we’re not in school when we should be, especially since my daughter looks like she’s in grade two.
To the very casual observer, my answer is simply going to be that we go to school part time and homeschool part time, which will be the truth starting next week. That should be enough for the clerk at the cash register.
For the not-so-casual observer who needs more reasons, I give the following: right now, we’re homeschooling because my daughter and I like to be together. We enjoy each others’ company. I only have one child, and I want to enjoy our time together as she grows up. That’s all. I just like being with my kid, and if being with my kid involves some teaching now that she’s five, that is fine too.
Sometimes I wonder at our society that encourages everyone to work outside the home, children to go to school or daycare, and families to struggle to spend time together. I just wonder. I wonder why we make it easy to do these things and not spend time together. I suppose that it’s beneficial in an economic sense, but for families it is hard. On the days I work outside the home, I have a hard time finding time to do all of the household tasks, be with my family, and find time for relaxation and exercise. In fact, it’s close to impossible.
So that’s why we’re homeschooling, really. It’s for many reasons, but the most fundamental one is that I just want to spend more time with my kid, and if you ask her, she’ll say that she’d prefer to hang out with me for a bit longer. That is all.
Image courtesy of Tinneketin at stock exchange.