I blame it at least partially on the time change, but it has been the kind of week where I think about sending my kids off to school A LOT.
I started my morning figuring out how many miles I'd be driving to the two Christian schools on my horizon. Both are 2 or 3 days at school and 2 or 3 days independent study at home options. School A is 11 miles from my house and 3 days per week: 44 miles/day, 132/week, 110/week if I didn't drive back home during school hours one day. School B is 21 miles from my house but only 2 days per week: 84 miles/day, 168/week, or 126/week. Keep in mind, this is with 2 younger siblings riding those round trips in the car and gas money on top of tuition. The tuition is very reasonable primarily because these are not full time schools, but still the costs add up and when I think of having multiple students in school not too far in the future, the costs really multiply! These are both schools I have a lot of respect for and seriously consider during weeks such as this. The biggest negative, for me, after the driving and money, is that the days at home are not really homeschooling. I love education! I want to be the one educating my children. I want to make curriculum choices! I want control! I'm excited about the possibilities. I just don't necessarily want my children 24/7 and I want them to have some other educational experiences . . . . so, not to re-do my "What I Want" post . . . . the fact that I'd like them to get some extra-curricular classes in a somewhat regular school setting once or twice a week is nothing new.
Later in the day I started googling local charter schools. Oh ya, that was after I searched for Christian schools in my town for the 29th time hoping I had missed something. I used to work for a homeschooling charter school and I know they are all different and they can have a lot to offer a parent like me. The school I worked for would be the perfect option if I lived in Temecula and I even looked at the possibility of commuting for some classes, but it looks like it would have to be twice a week and that is a lot! So, other charters that appear to offer homeschooling . . . . meaning parent-choice and freedom not just a lot of prescribed things to complete at home . . . . I say appear because, granted, I'm just looking at websites here; I'm in the very preliminary stages of a half-hearted search . . . . possible next step would be phone calls and tours . . . . Charter A with once a week classes about 20 miles from my house and Charter B with once a week classes 46 miles from my house. Both are strong possibilities right now. Classes once a week, if I stayed in that area that one day, would be 40 miles/week or 92 miles/week respectively. Charter B actually really excites me. Why can't it be closer to home?! I definitely need to do more research but my mind won't stop contemplating how I could manage an hour one way drive with a toddler and baby and then spend one day a week in a far-off city doing parks and whatever else I can think up . . . . hmmm. It is a good location for meeting family for lunch and such. Would I be able to do it? I probably wouldn't cook big dinners those nights. The school offers performing arts and other programs and I'm sure it would turn into more than once a week as my son got involved, but hopefully this wouldn't be a big issue until later in elementary school when the other two could handle the drive better and be in school some of the time too. For the drive I'm imagining audio books, learning songs, discussions, lots of good time at least for kids over about three . . . . that would be in the future. And as my husband pointed out, friends would be made that lived far away. There are definite cons. I don't know where my answer lies.
Is the fact that there is no perfect option God's way of forcing me back to 100% homeschooling? Although, 100% homeschooling in my eyes should include outside activities or classes in one form or another, so I think I'm still there. I had more passion for homeschooling before the reality of the hard work and craziness came about and now many days I'm ready to abandon ship but know I shouldn't leave what I think I'm supposed to do out of fear. Yet, I'm not 100% sure that it is what I'm supposed to do, so I look at schools and possibilities. I find nothing great. I go back to 100% homeschooling but look for the best way to get those outside activities and classes and find nothing perfect. Here I am. I pray for God's plan for my kids' education and for help with my daily use of time, need for inspiration and direction, my patience, and my willingness to work hard.
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