::Kindergarten::

How in the world is my little baby starting Kindergarten this fall?! Emma will be 5 on August 30th. She missed the cut off day by 1 day! So, she can start Kindergarten this fall or I could technically wait until next fall and she still wouldn't really be behind. Josh and I have been thinking about her schooling (and really all of children) over the past year or so. It is a BIG decision and one that we do not take lightly. About a year and a half ago or so I brought up the topic of homeschooling. I honestly thought Josh would shoot down the idea and there wouldn't be anymore discussion about it. I was surprised when he said he thought that would be great and he was all for it. That began our serious discussions on what we wanted for our kids. It's a very personal decision for each family. And it's actually the hardest decision I've ever made in my life. Choosing how your children will be educated shapes their whole life. I went back and forth for months on whether I wanted to homeschool and also whether I thought I could actually do it and make sure that my kids would learn the things they needed to learn. I wanted to give them the best possible opportunity to succeed and do well. After many many discussions we have chosen to homeschool. I am very excited about this and Emma is also. By homeschooling I am able to teach them how they learn best and I also am responsible for things that they are learning that are not school related. Josh and I have many reasons to homeschool but I don't feel as though I need to explain them all. I do not want to come across like I don't agree with people who send their children to public school. That is definitely NOT true. Homeschool isn't for everyone. I am going to try this first year and see how it goes. I imagine it will be a year by year discussion on whether we should continue or not depending on how it goes. I am very optimistic though. I know that everyone doesn't agree with our choice and I know there are probably many people who have a much different opinion than we do. We know that there are pros and cons to homeschool and also public school. But we also believe that the pros outweigh the cons for homeschool. We really appreciate the support that we have been given and we hope that you all will continue to support us as well as our children. I am looking forward to this coming school year and also keeping you all updated on how we are doing with this new adventure!