I feel like my biggest struggle as a parent until this day has been... wait for it .... homework... this has been since my now 10 year old started VPK as a 3 year old. I remember this tiny little girl coming home after being in school all day to complete a packet of almost 5 pages worth of homework as a 3 year old!!! How had this much work been assigned to a kid this size who has just begun her school career it's impossible I thought...Turns out it wasn't.
Fast forward to three schooled, five teachers and two cities later and things haven't improved. While she's made the honor roll various times as well as outstanding student in kindness and conduct she's completely lost when it comes to the work. The kids are basically learning the work to pass all the standardized tests pressed on them by the schools and counties.
Every teacher I've met with has had the same answer. That they only have a certain amount of time to cover each material at which point they have to be tested and move forward. They move so fast the kids are lost and don't even know where to begin asking questions or for help.
Every night I was getting so frustrated spending two hours or more doing homework with my daughter. It always began the same way "what do you have to do in this problem? " I would ask. Her answer barely changed from an "I don't know" to "the teacher didn't explain it".
It was frustrating for both of us since the homework has always been so advanced for the grade she is in and the wording difficult to understand. How was she suppose to do any of it without my help. I was so tired by this point in the day after working and doing other mom duties that frustration and helplessness would get the best of me. Screaming would happen and this only made her less able to concentrate. It would take what little confidence she had away. I promised I thought of homeschooling once and for all and to focus on her one on one. To make sure she wasn't just learning to pass a test but because she needed to know this Information. I wanted her to find learning fun like I did so many years ago and still do!
Seemed like the scholastic system wasn't going to be helping in that area soon enough. I was left with the question; what can I do to make my child not want to drop out of school at 10 years of age? How can I get her to have a childhood? I mean Monday - Friday she was in school from 8-3:30 and then home to do Homework from 4-6 sometimes even later! Only to take a bath have dinner and MAYBE she'll have one hour of playtime before it was her bedtime.
This wasn't fair to her. Especially since at the end of it all she wasn't retaining most of the information. It wasn't like she was on a road to become a genius instead she was bombarded with overloads of information each week that wasn't being practiced or stored in her long term memory!
Well this mom was fed up and I put my feelings to the side and decided that homeschooling would be the way to go. We will try it out part time and decide if we want to turn it Into a long term commitment.
Stay posted for and update on how things will go for us this coming school year. Maybe you've been feeling like me and homeschooling might be the best choice for you and your kiddos as well. If you’re a home schooling mom please leave me some resources or advice in the comments and thanks for reading.
