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I never thought I would homeschool. Secretly, I made fun of (and potentially chastised) the unknown masses of homeschoolers. I saw them all as preppers, bible thumpers, and fear mongers. The idea of keeping my children at home under the idea that I could somehow do a better job of educating them than those with degrees and decades of experience seemed insane. Until now.
Our oldest (10) has begged us to homeschool him since first grade. An introvert’s introvert, most days at school he would spend hiding in the corner reading, or when allowed, drawing elaborate creatures and landscapes. By the tail end of third grade (March of 2020) we were already receiving daily phone calls and emails from the nurse, principal, resource teacher, even our son (yes, he found a way to sneak into the main office and call us). He was restless. He was taking upwards of twenty bathroom breaks a day. He refused to participate in gym. Group activities were painful.
When it became apparent that COVID-19 would shut down the schools “temporarily”, my wife and I knew what was eventually going to happen. They said “two weeks” and we knew immediately it would mean the “rest of the school year”. When the school year ended and they said we’d be back to normal in September, we knew remote learning would continue through the end of the year.
