Our oldest son will be 6 next week. Aside from party planning and all that, I’m really just making myself sick considering whether to really homeschool or send him to school.

Granted, school wouldn’t start for him until August or possibly September, depending on what school we choose but the realization that schooling will happen hits next week when he turns 6. Because 6 is the official school age. Yikes!

I am driving myself and my husband crazy by going back and forth. Actually we are both concerned and we talk about it every day of the week. One day it’s a definite homeschool, the next day its private school but only if it’s a good private school, and then the next day maybe a private christian school until we find out that the christian school in our area is NOT non-demominational. We prefer(actually we must and will accept no less) to keep it non-denominational for personal reasons.

We tried the unofficial pre-homeschool to see how it would work out and if I forced a curriculum on him it would work better but I don’t want to do that right now. For now, we read everyday, we play games everyday, and we do some workbook stuff when he desires to but not everyday. When I see a learning opportunity, I build upon it and do what I can to teach him. He does really well with what he is interested in but gets bored easily and would rather run off and play with his toys, his brother, or video games.

And, being who I am, I think that’s totally ok and appropriate for his age. I want him to play for as long as he can. I know most kids his age are already going to school all day and everyone around us thinks he should be doing the same. And, that’s where my insecurities come in to play. What if I do decide to homeschool and I’m not successful? What then? I know I have the knowledge to teach him but do I have the creativity? The will? Time? Will he take me as serious as he would a real teacher? Would I always be MOM to him instead of teacher? The issue overall is will this type of learning work for him or would he be better suited to have another authority figure teach him? I am opening this up for discussion and advice. What are your thoughts? What are your fears as your kids enter school age? Am I totally crazy for obsessing over my baby starting school?

I guess I have a little more time to think about it. Ultimately, we want the best learning environment possible for our son with hands on activities, lots of outdoor play and exploring, arts, music, and computers NOT just a whole day sitting quietly in a classroom doing paperwork.

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