I struggled with the decision of whether to homeschool my sons. I tested the waters when Ethan was 5 & Reese was 2.5. It just didn’t work. For me. Alone. I was teaching Ethan reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. We were going on field trips. Doing experiements. Using all the available resourses of our community and all the support it offered. But at the same time I had to keep my children very quiet for my husband who worked at home in an office that was next door to our classroom. I was pregnant with our third and struggling to manage my 2 year old and keep my 5 year old on task. On one side I was seeing the fruits of our labors. Ethan was reading and writing beautifully. He was beyond ready for Kindergarten. But I was unable to devote any time to Reese. I was scared that I would be unable to give Reese all the time and attention that I was able to give Ethan. My decision was made. Ethan was going to public school. But I didn’t stop teaching him. When Ethan started school our youngest, Sean, was 4 months old. I quickly worked out a routine where Reese and I would ‘do learning’ while Ethan was at school and when Ethan came home, after snacks it would be Ethan’s turn. Now that he in 1st grade there is more structure in our learning since he has homework and reading assignments.
Even on days off like snowdays, I take full advantage of the free time. I love this time together. Sharing things that I love and enjoy with my children. I’ve been reading Radical Homemakers, Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture. By Shannon Hayes. Among so many ideas in this book that hit me, one is the importance of family. Not just the nuclear unit of parents and offspring. But grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and how the extended family has been extended and stretched like an elastic bad ready to snap. Since the industrial revolution, there has been an emergence of an American Dream where every adult to luanches themselves from their parent’s home, and later community, and into their own House and their own community. Hayes sheds light on a life much different than my own. Homeschooling, by not just both parents, but grandparents. Lifeskills beyond how to surf the internet and use a microwave.
What would happen if I lived closer to my parents. And my 3 brothers. Oh and my own aunts and uncles! The wealth of intellectual knowledge that would be shared and passed down. The skills, work ethic, of carpentry, engineering, gardening, building, the list goes on!
It has become a symbol of wealth, adulthood, and respectability to move out and away from your parents and families. But the real wealth is found right in the home, by the hearth, where wisdom, knowledge, skills, trades, and genuine love grow and are nurtured.
theauthenticmom 