Well, we did it. We took the plunge! After struggling through preschool, kindergarten & first grade, my husband and I have finally chosen to home school our daughter. And, three weeks into the endeavor, we are thus far thrilled with the results. As we began pondering the possibility of home schooling nearly a year ago, we of course wanted to be certain we were making the right decision. My number one fear was that I would not be able to give her a satisfactory education because I am not a credentialed teacher.

Fortunately, there exists the Monterey County Home School Charter. At an orientation, I learned that the MCHSC not only supplies home schooling families with the student materials needed, they also provide teacher materials. My biggest worry was subsided when it was suggested that a parent’s preparation can simply stay a week ahead of their child’s studies. So, if you have forgotten all of the details of the water cycle or need well thought out, fun ways to present ideas to your child—there is no need to stress because you will already have the answers right at your finger tips.

Another plus of enrolling with the MCHSC is that each student is assigned a mentoring teacher that will visit with you (either at your home or at the MCOE campus) three times per month. I was extremely pleased about this added benefit because I knew a teacher’s expertise would help to keep our home studies on track. In addition, she is there to accompany us to Individualized Education Meetings which we attend to address our daughter’s special education needs—it is a very empowering feeling to have even one more person who is advocating for your child!

Of course even with having this amazing system of support through the MCHSC, the decision to home school was a difficult one for us. Our daughter’s main struggle with the classroom setting is socializing in an appropriate manner and participating in a group. We worried that if we removed her from practicing socialization on a daily basis, she would not improve.

Luckily, there are several organizations throughout Monterey County that offer a schedule of classes, so our plan is to keep her active with these groups in hopes that she will develop meaningful friendships with others that attend on a regular basis. Just a couple of these organizations are the Lyceum of Monterey County and Educational Resources of Monterey County. In addition, as a result of our latest Individualized Education Plan, we will still be able to receive Special Education assistance in the way of attending small group speech therapy classes (more socializing). A service that I thought we might lose after pulling her from a traditional school.

In our short few weeks of home schooling, we do know that we have made the best decision for our child! She is demonstrating that fact to us on a daily basis by soaking up the information we present to her. Just one quick example—she is a second grader who was never able to count to 100 until last week because we finally took the plunge and created the right environment for her to succeed in learning.

© 2008 MBayKids.com - All rights reserved. Privacy | Disclaimer | Advertising | Contact Us