Educated Education

Our daughter is three. Most of her peers are starting their first year of pre-school. I am surrounded by nervous moms and excited kiddos. "Where is your daughter going this fall?" was the common question at most summer social gatherings. Every time I heard the question, anxiety would wash over me.

"We are homeschooling her," was my reply. Since moving to the town we currently live in my school related anxiety has grown. Our back yard overlooks the local public schools. We live in an ideal neighborhood for school aged children. What was my problem?

Reputation.

Our local school system has a not-so-stellar reputation and like all parents, I want the very best for my daughter. Last year we started to shop around for private school options. We discovered some great schools. Fantastic even. And entirely out of our price range. Now what? My anxiety grew.

We started looking into homeschooling. It seemed like a viable option for us. Being a stay at home mom, the biggest hurdle was nonexistent. I researched the laws in our new state. I got in touch with a semi-local homeschool group. I was ready.

Except for one minor, teeny tiny, detail. My daughter. She is not into the idea. We started talking about how some kids go to the school by our house to learn and some kids stay at home to learn. "I can't wait to go to the school!!" she declared.

"Don't you want to stay home with mommy and learn?"

"No. I want to be with my friends."

And just like that homeschooling was off the table. We want what is best for our child. Our very outgoing, determined, opinionated, and social child.

When we decided to pursue homeschooling one of the things we always promised was that when/if she asked, we would send her to school.No questions asked. So, now, we are approaching public school in much the same way. She says the word and we will pull her. We will support her learning and be a part of her education. I will get involved with her school and make sure she is getting the very best education and experience she can out of it.

Our daughter is three. All this could change tomorrow, but I doubt it. If I have learned anything in my 37 months as a parent it is this: nothing goes as planned and yet, somehow, it all works out for the best.