Homeschooling Just Isn't Gonna Work
by Erika
This is our first year (Kindergarten-2nd grade material, depending on the subject). My 5 year old son (6 in July) has always been extremely HARD to deal with for me. His hyperactivity and defiant/grumpy moods are the main issues. They have been there since he was about 1.5 yrs old (defiance in the form of frequent screaming/kicking tantrums as early as 1.5!) Anyhoo, public school was out of the question due to the issues we had in other classroom settings. Hence, the attempt to homeschool. So, the weird thing is that he loves the lessons...after 20 minutes of complaining and defiance and grumpiness. He is reading at a 1st grade level and is interested in many subjects...even Math!!! HOWEVER...the whole "being together all day, every day" is what is making this impossible. I wanted to tell you this to possibly give you an example to use in a future article. My mood as a mother has gotten so bad since starting to homeschool that I am putting my kids in childcare (part-time) next week just to get away for some ME time. I get so fed up with my son's defiance and grumpiness, that it's more than I can take at times. I just have to leave the kids with my husband and get away so I am not such a grumpy mom myself. I do not like to admit that we are a grumpy family together...but for some reason, it's true. All 4 of us together is somewhat better than both kids with just one parent though. I think it truly has something to do with temperaments and personality types. My sons have VERY strong personalities and I really like to have things calm, cheerful, peaceful and quiet. YIKES! What a combo right? Well, anyways, I am using the time that the kids are going to be away to work on my website (no domain yet). I think my life will be a little better balanced that way. But, for the homeschooling, it's out of the question for us. Off to private christian school we go! So, for any of your readers who just can't voice it, sometimes homeschooling circumstances CAN worsen already strained relationships in certain ways. I think I could still homeschool him 2 hours a day IF I was not around him the rest of it! LOL. Maybe that could work for other families? It's better than giving up, but for me I think I truly need a year off after such a trying 5 yrs of raising him thus far. I hope I haven't sounded too jaded here, but just telling the whole truth about the circumstance may give others comfort of knowing they are not alone. Well, I will update you when I get my site up and running, take care! Regards, Erika
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