So, it’s been a while since I last blogged about the Cheney schooling adventure so here we go! We homeschooled for three terms and possibly would have continued for a few more, however, with encouragement from family and friends and the impending arrival of a new baby, we headed back to the school Noah had attended previously, ‘The Kings College‘.
The travel had been a challenge for me at the time with my third child hating the car trips … oh the crying we had to endure to and from school most days. That’s enough to send anyone potty, remembering the trip took us just short of an hour twice a day.
We had found a homeschooling system that was working for Noah, the Charlotte Mason approach, however, I was finding it quite challenging juggling the younger two with Noah’s school work. Isaiah wasn’t getting the input Noah received when he was little! I was even working through these issues though I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage a newborn in addition to my toddler, three year old and my seven year old homeschooler. I was a bit worried about this.
I then began to weigh up the disadvantages and the advantages again of schooling vs homeschooling. Isaiah (my three year old) would go to school for two – three full days which would mean that it would just be the girls at home. That sounded so lovely and so I began to imagine my life back to school drop offs and school pick ups, coffee dates with the girls and the school teacher on Noah’s case to ensure he wrote his b’s and p’s the correct way. My husband’s job was time consuming and I was really feeling the stress of kids 24/7 with very little to no time for mum to have some time out. I was really struggling with it all so you can see how the possibility of less stress in my day looked quite alluring. After much discussion and prayer, we made the decision to go back to school and we are enjoying it.
Noah loves the social aspects of school very much and Isaiah just fitted in like he was an old hand at it. Noah is in year three this year and has a male teacher which is great and Isaiah is now a fulltime preprimary student and also has a most fantastic male teacher. We do love ‘The Kings College‘, with their pastoral care, support and passion for excellence not only in the academic but also in the spiritual. There are no doubt issues that we will face in the schooling arena, but then what’s new for life. So, I’ll blog on issues as they arrive such as having good relationships with the teacher, school and community, dealing with play ground problems, issues a diabetic child faces at school, conflicts, sports, music, resources etc.
Looking forward to what the new year holds for us Cheneys!
