Sometimes When You Homeschool.. You Have to Pull Out the Big Guns

I've been homeschooling since 1998.  In that time I've had a couple of children tell me they wanted to go to public school. Usually when this happens I say..

  • Go ask your father.
  • Are you sure you want to get up that early?
  • Do you want to miss out on the stuff we do during school hours?
  • Do you really want to ride a school bus?
  • You know you are not going to be able to snack whenever you want too.. AND they don't have iced tea and lemonade on tap.
  • You can't wear your pj's all day.
  • What about when we go to the American Royal? You'll have to go to school!
  • Won't you miss your mother?
  • What about Netflix? Who will watch Netflix if you are in school?

Sometimes the more brazen children will tell me; "I don't care, I'm want to go!"  When that happens, we practice going to public school the next day.  The school bus arrives at our house between 6:50am and 7:02am. 

I woke #5 up at 6:00am, if you are older and want to go to public school, you will have to get up around 5:00AM. He took a shower, had breakfast, made his lunch, packed up ALL of his textbooks and put them in his backpack and marched outside to wait by the drivers ed car (not at the end of our very long driveway) for the bus to come.

homeschool2#5 going out to wait for the bus.

DSC07164

While #5 was waiting for the bus… I admired my pink crepe myrtle.

DSC07165

And the butterfly bush.

homeschool3

He refused to speak to me while he was waiting…  But I think he's realized this might not be all it's cracked up to be.

publicschool5

The bus went by…. Can you see the yellow-orange bus?

#5 came in the house, and the plan was for us to go upstairs and start school…. and continue until public school was released. I walked upstairs… and this is what I found.

 

homeschool4

He was asleep.  When he woke up he said he said; "I don't think I'm cut out for public school."

The One about Taking a Homeschooler to Public School

I take #4 to speech at our local public school for a couple of hours everyday.  #5 goes with me to do his school work while #4 is there working on his R's and L's.  Each day we walk by the cafeteria and smell the food, each kid takes a turn trying to guess what the kids are having each day… and the same thing happens.. they beg and beg to stay and eat lunch.  I promise them we will eat someday, and our someday came on Tuesday.

They did great standing in line, getting the silverware, napkin and food… but apparently homeschooling doesn't teach a kid everything they need to know in life.

Like how to open a milk carton.

Really.

He asked for help from a friend sitting next to him…

And was on his way to drinking chocolate milk and eating his mashed potatoes and chopped steak with gravy.