Four Days

I can't believe it's been that long since I've posted. My apologies everyone. It's just been one of those weeks. Sarah's been sick since Wednesday, throwing up, fever, now we are down to just serious congestion and crankiness. I took her to the dr. on Friday and she was borderline ear infection, so we are just laying low, chillin today. The superbowl party is tonight, so we'll have to go to church, but I thought church all day and a leaders meeting AND a superbowl party was too much for an already crankified little girl.
So what else is going on?
So glad you asked.
We've been seriously considering home schooling Eli. It's kind of a long story, but Rob and I have always been on the fence on this issue and some things have come up lately that are leaving us wondering if we made the right decision to send him to public. It's nothing against his teacher, in fact, we love her, think she's doing a great job. It's really more about the social aspect of it, the hours and hours that he is gone, how much it wears him out. We feel like we get the remnants of his day, he's always tired and cranky with us.
He's a super-bright child. I'd really like to challenge him more, do things a little more out of the box. It's just a matter of whether or not I can rise to the challenge.
Anyway, I spent an hour on the phone with a mom I know from MOPs who homeschools. She had some great points. I also talked to my mom, who homeschools my younger brother. I've done quite a bit of research so far, but I'd really like to find a message board of homeschooling moms to ask some more questions.
Oh, and Eli is totally for it. He understands that we would really do work (he actually loves schoolwork) but that we'd get to go and learn cool things too. St. Louis has so much to offer in the way of educational attractions! I love the idea of being able to pour into his brain. I also love the idea of integrating bible into his lessons. I know, I can be doing this stuff now (and we do to an extent) but he comes home from school so exhausted that he's pretty much useless for anything else. We've been putting him to bed at 7pm most every night because he can't handle any longer than that.
I say all this and the more we talk about it, the more convinced I think I am. The only real downside I see is in that I will still be at home. Indefinitely. That's a little scary, but if it's best for Eli, it's what I need to do. Besides, I do think it will be a new and exciting (scary) challenge for me. I think it will bring our family closer together. I think Sarah will love it, she gets so lonely during the day.
I'm excited about all the possibilities of what we can do. I think about going to Grant's Farm and the City Museum and the Lewis and Clark Exhibit. And the zoo! And going on days when it won't be crowded and horrible and hot. That will be awesome. I even think we could plan a family trip to Chicago and see the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium.
I guess I just don't want him to grow up and for us to not have a chance to do these things. I want him to know that there are opportunities to learn and grow everywhere you go and at every stage of life. I want to share that with him. I feel like I'm farming him out eight hours a day. Does that make sense? We had kids so we could love them, teach them, feed them, help them on the path to adulthood. I feel like we are shirking our duty.
So I guess I'm decided. I'm just still scared of the decision. It's a lot of responsibility. It's going to require a lot of change on my part. I do think it will be worth the sacrifice. Anything worth doing will be hard. Most of all, we just want him to thrive, and it doesn't look like he's thriving right now.
So we are giving it till Friday - the decision process. We told Eli we would pray about it till Friday. One full week. He's praying about it too. And we are all talking as a family. On friday we will reach a decision. If we decide to homeschool, Valentine's Day will probably be his last day at public. (per his request) Which would be good, because we are already scheduled to take him to Springfield, MO for a worship conference those next two days. Then there is another conference the next weekend in Rockford, IL. Still not sure what to do about that.
So there you have it. I would love any opinions. This is a big decision and I don't think we can get 'too much input'.