One thing I’ve appreciated about not homeschooling right now, is that I’m less torn between what I want to do with the kids and what I need to do otherwise.  I have more time available.  But then I started thinking about all the time having the kids in school entails, and that isn’t insignificant.

First of all, there’s the daily effort of getting them ready on time, sending them out happy even when they’d rather stay home.  (For ds4, this is a huge daily effort – he would almost always rather stay home.)  Then there’s taking them to and from school, helping the older ones with homework, and being emotionally available to support them when they get home.  If they want to have a playdate, that’s something else to facilitate.

As new immigrants, our children need a lot more help and support than children who grew up with this language – someone who made aliyah two years ago told me that every new immigrant is a special needs student, and though that doesn’t sound so pleasant, it’s pretty accurate.  This means me working with them daily on Hebrew reading and language, and translating the homework they bring home before they can even start answering the questions.  Being a new immigrant also brings with it the need for a lot more advocacy on my part with the schools they attend – last week I had appointments with the principal of the girls’ high school as well as the principal of ds9.

Then there’s the regular stuff.  I need to register ds4 for next year’s kindergarten this week, and since the mandatory education law passed regarding three year olds and up, this means taking care of the paperwork at the city municipality.  On Sunday evening, I’m attending a parenting workshop arranged by the administration of ds13’s school.  On Monday morning, I’m taking ds5 to a school psychologist to be assessed for readiness for first grade, which is mandatory before he can be registered.

On Tuesday, I have another parenting class to attend.  This one is a result of the meeting with ds9’s principal last week (which went very well).  A concrete result of our discussion is that  ds9 will be able to participate in a special program to facilitate his absorption, but this is generally only open to children who come from difficult home situations or have emotional difficulties.  A mandatory component is that I have to attend weekly parenting classes at 6 pm every week (since it’s scheduled during dinner hour, it’s almost like testing how dedicated a parent you are to see if you show up!).

This week also marks parent teacher conferences.  I’m scheduled for a meeting with dd11’s teacher on Weds. morning, and a meeting with ds9’s teacher that evening.

For years I’ve told people that homeschooling doesn’t take nearly the time and effort they think it does.  I think a difference is that when you’re homeschooling, you’re being proactive and generally avoiding a lot of issues that would otherwise come up.  (For example,  ds9 is being bullied – this wouldn’t be an issue at home.)  Once your kids are in school, you’re often reacting to the factors surrounding them – peers, teachers, academic expectations.

Avivah