I can honestly say that I never planned to type that title. But it’s true. My 5 year old has been officially unenrolled from Pre-K. He is a Pre-K dropout!
A little over a month ago, my husband made the decision to take him out of school and begin homeschooling him. And my 5 year old had no objections. He wasn’t a fan of school and had long been asking to be homeschooled.
I’ll be honest, I was completely against it. I felt that at his age, he needed structure and to be around other kids his age. Both of which I knew he wouldn’t get at home. So it was a solid “NO!” from me. But my husband pleaded. He felt very passionate about it. He homeschooled the older two boys when they were younger and wanted to do the same with the little one.
I trusted that he prayed through this and that his decision was in the best interest of our son. Despite my struggle to give up control, I allowed him to make the call. The next morning he was at the school, unenrolling our son from pre-k.
I am a planner. Everything needs to be written down and there needs to be an order to it. It’s very hard for me to function without my lists and agendas. I can’t just “wing it.” My husband, on the other hand, is the master of “wing it.” It drives me absolutely insane.
How can one teach without a lesson plan? What material are you going to cover? How will you assess that he is learning the material? I have all these questions. My husband has no answers. However, I’m trying to let go of my tendency to control and let my husband take the lead. It has been difficult for me. God is using this as one of many ways to show me that there are many things out of my control. I am slowly learning to let go of those things and trust.
I came home from work one day and asked my son, “what did you and daddy learn in school today?” and he responded, “we didn’t do school today.” I’m like, “What!? Ya’ll didn’t do school??” I frantically walk run over to daddy and ask “why didn’t y’all do school today?” And he responds ever so calmly, “we did. It just wasn’t a formal lesson so he doesn’t think of it as school. I incorporate it into our conversations.”
That night, as I was bathing my son, he said, “mom, did you know that if I have 5 donuts and I give 3 to my friends, I would have 2 left.” “What!? How do you know that?” I asked. “Me and daddy talked about it when we ate donuts for breakfast,” he responded. So I started quizzing him with other word problems, thinking maybe he just memorized that. But guess what? He got every. single. one. RIGHT! I was completely blown away!! I haven’t met many, if any, kids in pre-k that can work mathematical word problems.
A few days later, I heard my husband and son in the kitchen discussing “good bacteria” versus “bad bacteria.” My 5 year old was leading the discussion, talking about how our body can heal itself. They’ve also had discussions on the polar opposites of magnets, generating electricity, and reflection of light. And it’s not just discussions, but hands-on experiences.
I love the way my husband incorporates life lessons into conversations while they are doing things together. They count money and discuss spending and saving. They talk about Jesus, about being honest, and how to treat people. They talk about how God made each of us different and that we should love people for who God made them to be. They pray together. They discuss taking care of ladies and how God made daddies strong to protect and provide for mommies and children.
They “fix” things together (he truly believes that daddy can fix anything – which is mostly accurate). They enjoy taking things apart and putting them back together. My husband shows him, as he explains, that if you want to fix something, you first have to look at the way it’s made and how it works.
If you have a conversation with my 5 year old, you would think you were talking with a young gentleman. His vocabulary is extended beyond what most 5 year old’s can comprehend. He is smart, witty, and full of determination.
So lately, our 5 year old has been spending his days at his daddy’s side learning about life. And I couldn’t think of any lesson more valuable or any other human that I’d want to teach him about life, other than his dad. In the meantime, I’m learning that when I give up control, God works things out better than I ever could’ve imagined.
We are looking at possible curriculum’s for next year and are considering Classical Conversations. If you’ve homeschooled before and have any suggestions, we’d love to hear from you!
Other posts you may enjoy:
My Cup: A Reflection of Obedience in a Time of Brokenness
My Journey to Motherhood: A Story of Infertility & God’s Faithfulness
YOU Are Enough: Stop the Comparisons!
How wonderful. The love that your family shares and the way that your son and his Daddy go through his Pre K journey is remarkable. I hope you keep posting about your new path together. I am an old great grandmother now and when my children were growing up it was go to school or else!!!! My son had a wonderful grandfather (my Daddy) who was his best friend and fishing buddy from the time he could walk and talk. Now my son is grown with a son of his own who is married now. They are best friends and fishing buddies. My son is caring, loving and very good to me. He
owns a house across the street from his house and I now live there. I could not ask for a better son. I love your story. Will be looking forward to your next post
Jan, your words mean so much to me! Thank you so much for your encouragement. It sounds like you raised an amazing son. I’m so glad you get to witness your son doing the same with his child. Many blessing to you my friend!
Great and inspiring story. I think all is well with what your 5 yr old is learning. I’ve always thought that yes a child should be around other his on age. Learn how to socialize with others. You as a parent should also have that time to relax and go about your day. He has seen his other siblings home school and wants the same. I think dad and you are doing s great job. Love your story. Talk about pray about. Enjoyed.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Vietta! Have a blessed day!
I LOVED your story and his journey so far. Coming from Texas where their vigorous system starts at 3 to moving to Utah where homeschooling IS an option, I wanted to try with both my 4 & 6 yr old. Getting out of the scheduled mindset was a challenge for me. I thought I had to keep it the same. I found, as your husband did, teaching can be done in ordinary daily activities. They remember what they love and are interested in. There’s an online homeschool group called Well Educated Heart, that has a lot of the values you’re looking for. They believe if the teaching for the day takes 15, 30 minutes or 1 hour- that’s good! They have a lot of reading in all sorts of subjects and you can go at your own pace with activities to follow. This first year has gone slow for me and I still sometimes fear that I’m falling short compared to a classroom setting but the thought of the same routine for the next 11/12 years for them is heart wrenching after seeing my two older girls grow up WAY TOO FAST! For now, I’ll accept that slow is good and enjoy their childhood a little more. Way to go Dad!!!
Thank you so much for sharing this, Mari! I can’t wait to check out Well Educated Heart. You are creating life long learners, which is priceless gift. Your children are blessed to have you!
What an honest and beautiful story. We just finished our 8th year of homeschooling with Classical Conversations! I never thought I would homeschool. 😜I will be praying for you and I’m here if you have questions.
Thank you for sharing this, Sherisse! I have heard nothing but positive about Classical Conversations. You prayers are appreciated so much, my friend! Praying blessing over you and your family as well. Enjoy your summer!
We have homeschooled with CC for the last 10 years and have loved it! It gives you a scaffolding you can build your homeschool on without taking away your ability to teach your kids the way you want to. It is also wonderful to have other families around you who are walking this crazy homeschool journey with you.
Thank you so much for that feedback, Jennifer! I can’t wait to see all that CC has to offer. I’ve heard nothing but positive so far. Many blessings to you and your family and I hope you have an amazing summer!
I love that your hubs is teaching our son without him even knowing it. I really think he’ll remember it better that way. But I totally get the giving up of control. Also so glad you are going to start sharing your heart and not give up on blogging. You have words, beauty (inside and out) and can help others out there through your life. Big hugs
Aww, Cindy! Your words mean so much to me!! Thank you for that encouragement! My husband and son have a special bond that is so beautiful to witness. I’m hoping to be able to get back into a blogging routine soon. It’s just been one crazy thing after another lately. Many blessings to you my friend!
This is great! Learning isnt something that should be compartmentalized! It is life! It is all around us! And teaching our kids how to filter the world through a Biblical worldview is one of the greatest gifts we can give them!
Preschool (and even kindergarten) don’t really need a curriculum! Learning through life and play is so much better for their minds!
If you haven’t already – look at The Good and Beautiful Curriculum.
Thank you so much for this encouragement, Bonnie!! I completely agree with you! Can’t wait to check out that curriculum.
Heather… I sat here all teared-up reading how your hubby wanted so badly to homeschool your son. WOW! So many dads are NOT on the homeschool path. My sis-in-law just had to take her daughter out of ‘hybrid’ homeschooling and put her into public school in order to follow her hubby’s leading. Here in So Cal, public schools are NOT a good thing. Anyway, we are praying for that situation, and trusting the Lord in His protection. Love that you are learning the same lessons, only in the opposite circumstance!
I love that your hubby is doing life-learning with your son. I graduated from homeschool back in the pioneer days of homeschooling. I graduated both my children from HS (as a single-again-mom), and now they are both homeschooling THEIR children (just starting the journey). I think CC is a wonderful program, but I would ask some older students what their take is on it. Often, the parents LOVE it, but I’ve found that some students lose the love-for-learning because of the style of teaching it is. You hubby sounds like he is on the right track for teaching your boy a love for learning… and that’s most important. You lose that, you lose it all! (I used the Charlotte Mason method… we loved it!)
If you ever want to talk… feel free to email me or chat me on FB! I love talking about hsing!
Thank you so much for the encouraging comment, Julie!!! Praying for your sister. My hubby isn’t so sure about CC. I don’t think he likes the memorization part. We are still looking into other options. It will likely be a combination of a few different things. 😉