So. After 9 years of teaching my daughter, she has decided to go to high school next year. I am so excited for her... and kinda hating it all at the same time.
We stumbled upon a school. I am obviously not easily impressed by schools, but this one ... impressed me. We went in and I asked a MILLION questions. She spent a morning shadowing a student and loved her experience. Everything I've learned about the school and everyone we've talked to over there has been great.
I'm excited for her to 'report to' someone else. A good lesson for her upcoming college/working years.
I'm excited for her social circle to expand. The wonderful band of little girl playmates she used to have has kind of broken up as age differences and interests play a bigger part, and sports and hobbies take up more time. She could use more friends, quite frankly.
Because we didn't plan on her getting her HS diploma, this year we continued to have her learn the way she always has, with books and programs we've chosen for her because they're GOOD. However they're not 'accredited' so now she is having to make up official 9th grade credits. We're doing that through two different programs, one online, one paper. Very different programs, one definitely better than the other, but both are STRESSING ME OUT.
I'm tired of having to 'nag' her to make sure she gets as much of her courses done every day as she can. I've never had to do that before! Even though I'm not her teacher for these classes I'm still having to deal with some of this coursework (some of which is so ridiculous, oh goodness) and some weirdness with the instructors/graders. I hate this. This is WHY WE HOMESCHOOL.
I'm kinda mourning the opportunities that being a homeschooled teen can bring. Some of her student-led interests that we could delve DEEP into during her high school years won't work out. There just won't be time. I could see her having opportunities to be a teaching assistant for dance classes, working on writing a novel (she loves to write, and she's GOOD!), or growing her musical talent by playing more instruments. Just yesterday she was online finding a language program because she decided to start learning Japanese. If I were a good 'school' mom I would have told her to stop and go study for her 'real' classes. Luckily, I'm not that good at this.
I will also SO miss her playing piano after lunch every day. She plays beautifully for a half hour after lunch. She's been doing that for about 7 years! Who will accompany my dishwashing now?
Speaking of piano, her daytime lessons won't work anymore. When do we fit those in?
I have to figure out how she's getting to school at 7am every morning and I have to remember to pick her up every afternoon and RUSH her to dance.
We can't pick up and go on little trips whenever we want anymore. We must bow to the school schedule. Yuck.
These silly hoops you have to jump through sure take up a lot of time. And this change sure affects the whole family.
Did I mention she didn't realize she was signing herself up for homework? Something she's never really had to deal with? After dinner one night she asked to watch a show, and I told her she needed to work on an online class some more. She was like 'After DINNER?' Ha. That's called 'homework', sweetie, and that's the norm now.
Yeah, this is definitely a mixed bag of feelings, esp. for me. She wasn't begging to go to school or anything but is now excited about it. Overall it seems like the right thing to do and we feel good about it.
Plus... school supplies.