Year 3/Week 16: Homeschool Halftime and our Hail Mary pass to the end zone...

Happy New Year 2015! This last year has been a completely full, tumultuous, difficult year that we are happy to see behind us. Besides losing two deeply beloved family members, getting really kicked in the tail by income taxes and having our rusted water heater flood our basement, we had a rough time in home school. Ever since last year, I've felt like our school was a car with a tire getting ready to go flat - bumpy, unsure and scary. It wasn't feeling right and I was realizing I needed help. I had looked for different curricula and tutors, but nothing seemed to come up. Homeschool was getting harder and harder for all of us. These blog posts became fewer and fewer because it was hard to talk about.

This time last year, my husband and I had a real "Come to Jesus" talk with the boys about the reality of homeschool if their attitude didn't change (and by "they", I mean my oldest son). While we continued on as best we could, each week that passed left me feeling  more and more worried that I wouldn't be able to meet my oldest son's specials needs as well as the harder high school requirements that are looming ahead in another year. I didn't have anywhere else to turn - and we weren't ready to go back to public school - so I just dug my trenches deeper and kept fighting.

Fast forward to this fall. We started school a little late with a newly painted schoolroom, but I have to admit, with no enthusiasm at all on my part. One particularly lazy Sunday, hubby and I had a chance phone conversation with a neighbor while drinking coffee and were struck with the revelation that our new church's parochial school might be an excellent option for the boys. Since I was already enrolled in a college program to certify me to work as a medical coder next year which would cover the expenses, we started investigating the possibility and after many meetings, tours, and prayer, I can finally say:

This is our last year of homeschool!

For now. Our original plan was never for me to homeschool permanently, but only to get us out of an environment that wasn't good for our family, which we did. Starting in the fall, we'll be dealing with all new schools, whether private or public, which is a plus no matter how you look at it. Although I do feel like a failure for not continuing our lovely homeschool for another seven years (yikes!), I know that is not what God intended for me or the family. We are still taking it one year at a time (because once Danny finishes 8th grade next year, we'll still have to make the decision of which high school he attends). The one part that is NOT scary is that we now know that homeschool is always here for us as an option and we definitely know we can do it! Also, after some work experience under my belt, I will be qualified to work from home as a medical coder in a year or two, so I even have the option to homeschool later AND work, if need be.

But until the end of this school year, we homeschool. Today was our first day back after winter break and I think it was physically painful for all of us to adjust. We had some nice family reading time, some great math review together and laughs, but we also had our first tears when Danny's science assignment required some math that we hadn't quite covered yet. So, it continues. I am trying to treasure each and every day of homeschool now, the same way that I treasure their growing years after losing the girls to adulthood already. We are blessed to have this. And we are blessed to have the option to leave it as well.

Happy New Year and God Bless you all!