Homeschool & Last Day Of School!!!

The first full week in March I was sick with a tummy bug. I spent that whole week on the couch...it was not fun! This was when all the Covid talk was really amping up. I had a friend that had a friend that works at the CDC and she had said, "it's not if the schools close...it's when"...so I was prepared that it was going to happen. I watched the press conference on March 12th saying school was closing and I'll admit I cried a little. I'm not sure why because I was actually excited to have my kids home with me. I love having my babies close. It was just a little tiny emotional moment and then it was over. 

During that week while I was sick I had been reading up on a bunch of stuff and I was already really upset by the new Sex Education that was being brought up in the State Legislature. I told Michael if they passed it we were removing our children from Public School. 

Side Note: I do not think it is the Public Schools job to teach my children about sex...it is my job as a parent to teach my children about those things. I understand that some parents are scared, embarrassed or don't know how and I feel sorry for their kids. Parents should not be scared or embarrassed to talk to their kids about anything. Yes...I think that school should teach about anatomy and how the reproductive system work, but that's it. The thing is you don't need to teach a child how to sin...it's is part of their inmost being...we are sinful creatures. I do not need the Public School System teaching my children about leud sex acts that go against our Biblical beliefs. 

Here are books we used to talk to our kids about sex from a Biblical standpoint. 

The Talk: 7 Lessons to Introduce Your Child to Biblical Sexuality

Changes: 7 Biblical Lessons to Make Sense of Puberty

Relationships: 11 Lessons to Give Kids a Greater Understanding of Biblical Sexuality

Steps off soap box! 

Homeschooling has been on my heart for about a year! I homeschooled Owen for Kindergarten and then when he was about to go into 1st grade we realized that he needed more than I could give. I had my 3 little ones at home and I was nanny Logan 3 - 4 days a week. It was too much. At the time we felt like it was the right move. I also got involved with Mom's in Prayer and we have seen so many answers to prayers over the years. I truly felt like being at Public School was my mission field. I loved volunteering and helping out my kids teachers. Although as they got older the amount of help the teachers needed drastically went down. During this last year I barely helped out at all. I felt like I wasn't able to have a presence in the classroom, get to know the other kids in my kids' classes or make a difference of any kind.

This last year there has also been some situations that have come up that were frankly unacceptable in my mind. My child did not have any rights to getting a good education because another child that was having issues had all the rights in the world. It was ridiculous really! I get that the schools hands are tied, but it was really disappointing. 

Owen had been asking to be homeschooled for the last year. He is so gentle and his heart literally hurts when he has to sit in a classroom of kids that swear all the time. It was breaking my heart! I wanted to homeschool, but their was always something holding me back. I think it was mainly the not knowing if it would work and what would happen if I took them out, tried it and it failed...would I have ruined my kids! 

Enter Covid-19 and school being canceled...in a way it was an answer to prayer for our family. Not that people would get sick and die...heavens no, but we got to practice homeschooling. We got to try it on for size! Now I know that crisis homeschooling is not like real homschooling, but the fact that none of us killed each other during these last couple months is quite promising. 

Once we found out that school was going to be canceled for the rest of the school year I made the decision right then that we were only going to do school until the original last day of school on June 12th. Then once we went on further I decided that we were finishing up on May 29th. We were done! My kids had done great, but the tension had been building and there had been tears over zoom meetings and computers not working and I was over it. Neither me or my kids need to be unnecessarily stressed right now and I honestly felt like this was unnecessary. I conveyed this to my kids teachers and they were SO supportive of me!!! They were also excited for us in regards to leaving the school and moving forward with homeschooling. It was such a nice relief to have that off my chest and feel supported in the process! 

I told the kids that even though school wasn't ending the normal way we were still going to take last day of school pictures.

Last day of 2nd grade! 

Going on to 3rd! 

Last day of 6th grade! 

Going onto 7th!!! 

Last day of 7th grade!!! 

Being a goober...just like in his first day of school picture that he's holding! 

Going onto 8th grade! 

Last day of 3rd grade! 

Going onto 4th grade! 

My beautiful babes! 

Buddies! 

Goobers! 

As for homeschooling....we are doing a hybrid of sorts. I found this school online Lighthouse Christian Academy they offer a distance learning homeschool program. They use ACE (Accelerated Christian Education) curriculum. It's the same curriculum that Michael and I used at the private school we went too. The nice thing is since we are enrolled in a school per se I don't have to file paperwork with the state like I would if I homeschooled the traditional way. I don't have to take the class that shows I'm able to teach my child. I will have support from the school and we will be assigned an advisor. They will keep all the kids records and handle all the state testing. It's really the best of both worlds. 

It will cost us a good amount, but it's less to homeschool my 4 kids using the same curriculum that I used than it cost my parents to have me in private school. We are excited and thankfully so are the kids. Owen and Zeke were totally on board and fine...no complaints whatsoever. Jack and Ella were shocked and Ella does keep saying that she's sad she's not going to go to school and she doesn't want to homeschool, but I mainly thing it's because of the unknown. She's still going to see her friends it will just be outside of school and we'll have opportunities to make new friends.  Once Jackson realized that all his friends he actually hangs out with don't go to school he was fine.  

The best part about the program at LCA is they will assess the kids and see where they need to be placed. They aren't going to just assume that Owen is going into 8th grade. They will test him to be sure and if he is lagging behind in a certain area they will assign him the PACE's (workbooks) that he needs to catch up in those areas. I honestly think that Zeke should be further along than he is right now. Poor kid is bored out of his mind with Math. I would not be surprised if he is at the same level as Ella in a few subjects. 

The flexibility is really going to be nice as well. We will be able to take vacations and go places outside of the normal peak times. We will also be able to take our PACE's and go set up school at the park. The options are endless really! 

I'm still a little sad about taking my kids out...it's all they've ever known, but I'm also so excited for what's ahead. The things they are going to get to do and see and experience while homeschooling are going to make up for anything they are going to miss at a school building. Plus I'm so excited to be able to pour into their lives even more Biblical principles and looking at things from a godly perspective. It's my job as a parent to make sure they have a solid foundation in the Lord and I take that job very seriously! 

If you are interested in checking out Lighthouse Christian Academy.