Our first day at the "new" school... and I'm so nervous.

[Intrepid]

Time's up. It's here. Today's the day I begin my son's full-time home schooling curriculum, and I'm so very, very nervous. So much of our future depends upon how well I do with my son today. If I manage to make the lessons fun and engaging, he may begin to forget his sorrows at leaving his classmates back at the brick-and-mortar public school. If I do well by him today, he may see that being homeschooled can be a lot of fun and he may start to overcome his anger and resentment at having his world changed so dramatically. But if I fail.... either way, today sets the tone for the rest of the school year.

Last Friday didn't go too well for him. He managed to laugh with his classmates, but he also spent a fair amount of time crying too. What's more, his teacher cried with him, and a few of his classmates. When I got him back home he told me it was "the worst day of [his] life". My heart sank. Luckily, many of his new text books had arrived earlier in the day and we spent over an hour tearing open boxes and sorting through all the books and kits... and for a little while he forgot about all he was leaving behind and focused with genuine excitement on what he had in front of him. It was short-lived, but it was a start.

So today.... today I become a 4th grade teacher on top of everything else I do. It's intimidating to put on this new hat, especially since I've never had formal training as a teacher. I want so badly to do right by him, and I hope that one day he will come to forgive his father and me for shaking up his world so badly, and will come to understand that it truly was the right thing to do. Maybe someday...

[Guaranteed]

Jan. 29, 2009 at 4:58 PM

I was reading a reply of yours on someone else's journal, and it led me here. I am very interested to know how your homeschooling experience is going! I have a two year old son who seems to be developmentally advanced and I am hoping to try home schooling, but I am apprehensive in that I don't have any training to be a teacher, and I don't feel like I couple help him with everything (especially math!) Is homeschooling really as hard as I imagine it is?