Worries

My homeschooling worries

I honestly feel like we're about to jump off a cliff into a chasm to which I can't see where I'm falling to, let alone the bottom. As with everything there is fear of the unknown. Some days I'm all gungho about homeschooling ready to put all the naysayers in their places. Other days I'm not so sure. I don't think there has ever been a day where I thought about putting the boys into mainstream schooling but there has been a few days here and there where I think 'what am I doing.' On these days of emotional tenderness I feel like a won't cope, and all of the things the Negative Nancys have said come flooding back to me like a tidal wave.

My concerns that come up occasionally include but are not limited to:

What if this is us after homeschooling!

*Money: Homeschooling is going to cost us bucket loads of money. When we had our first son we never thought for a minute that we would be homeschooling the kids, so we imagined that I'd go back to full time work once the youngest was in primary school. I work three days a week so we are talking about two extra days per week. That works out to be a lot over the years. I just have to remember that we are surviving nicely on what we bring home now and we are constantly saving so hopefully it'll be okay.

* Will it work: I know this is something that is in the back of my mind all the time. As a teacher I've given parents activities and games to play at home with their kids. I've lost count of how many parents have told me that the kids just won't do the extra work. I worry about that being my kids. I rationalise this worry with "well why would they (the students) want to do more work once they are home after a long day at school." Homeschooling will be the work- not extra work.

What if this is us?

*Logistics: This worry involves the fact that I'm sharing the homeschooling with Simon. There are a few minor worries including will he have enough patience to home school them? Will there be groups and outings he is willing to go to or will all that side of be left up to me on the days I home school? And will he be accepted by the homeschooling mothers. I say this last point because there have been some homeschooling mums I've been in contact with that meet up in a small group and because they meet up on a day I work I ask if Simon could go instead of me. Often the answer is no.There are a large number of 'mothers only' groups out there! Wow! In 2015! 

As you can see I've got some worries about homeschooling, but what it comes down to is that I have more and bigger worries about main stream schooling! For these "What am I doing days" I find it helpful to have a list of all of the reason we've decided to home school the boys and those feelings quickly disappear.  

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