I’m really, really glad to say that we’ve made the decision regarding my son’s schooling for next year, and all of us are very happy with it.  It’s been on my mind nonstop for several days now, and it’s a relief to have the decision made.

Sooooo…….our 15 year old son will be ……. HOMESCHOOLING!  Once again for the entire day!  (For anyone new, we’ve homeschooled everyone for the last eight years, but sent oldest ds to a high school last year and brought him home for the secular studies.) I’m thrilled, so are all the kids, and the best thing is that he’s chosen it and has a really good feeling about all of it.

His principal doesn’t have a good feeling about it, though.  My husband left a message notifying them he won’t be returning, and a record was probably set for the speed of a call being returned.  🙂  He told my husband that every child belongs in school, and wanted to know why he was leaving.  My husband told him that we’re grateful to the school and teachers for all they’ve done, but it wasn’t fully meeting his needs.  And that the only way we saw it possible for those needs to be met was for him to be allowed to miss the night learning, and we didn’t want to ask the school to change policy for him.  The principal was very unhappy about it – his teacher and principal have both told us that our son is a ‘model student’, so it’s a loss for them to have a student like that leave. 

My husband was slightly surprised that the principal responded, “All I can do is beg.”  If anything, he would have expected him to make a counteroffer.  But we’re glad he didn’t, because our decision was made and it saved us getting into negotiating.  We’re grateful they have such a positive feeling about our son, and I’m glad that they had a chance to see a homeschooled boy excel in all areas, in ways that to their way of thinking homeschooling should have prevented him from succeeding (social skills, learning level, behavior, confidence, etc). 

So now I’m having to make some sudden adjustments mentally regarding this, and have to start making plans with him. Something really nice aout having a child this age is: they’re mature enough to access adult level learning.  He’s not limited in his Judaic studies to private tutors or groups of homeschooled boys.  Our community has tons of options for adults, and it’s very exciting to realize how much is available when you start to open up your mind and eyes.  He’s looking into pursuing some learning options that we think will be wonderful, and I have 100% confidence that he’ll be able to pursue an education that looks different than the school model, but will fully prepare him for life. 

Avivah