Privacy Concerns and a Brief Who's Who

There have been countless times since I posted my first (and so far only) entry on this blog when I've opened up the "new post" window, only to stare at the blank text box for a while before giving up and closing out the tab.  I'm not entirely comfortable sharing my children's names and images online...and yet here I am thinking about writing a blog about our homeschooling journey.  I think I've found a way to reconcile these conflicting goals in my mind, at least for now. 

Both my boys will be referred to by pseudonyms.  After mulling this over for a while, and debating on either using nicknames (such as Monkey) or "real" names, I've decided to go with actual names.  These are names that were on my short list when we were naming our boys but weren't chosen because, regardless of how much I loved them, they sounded awful with our last name!  So...my oldest son, age five, will be known as "Seamus" on this blog, and my two-year-old will be called "Declan."  

As I mentioned, Seamus (oh my goodness, it's just too funny to refer to him with this name!) is five and will be starting kindergarten in the fall.  Like most five-year-old boys, he's full of energy, curiosity, and goofiness.  He's in the beginning stages of learning to read - attempting to sound out words and having some success with CVC words, and has been incredibly excited to be learning how to "crack the code!"  His current passions include trains, the solar system, worms/ants/honeybees, backyard birds, and volcanoes.  

Declan is my toddler.  He's completely fearless, and the cause of my rapidly graying hair!  He loves music, and has a great sense of rhythm that certainly wasn't inherited from either of his parents.  Like his big brother, he's fascinated by trains...and construction trucks...and tractors.He loves to paint at the easel, climb anything that lies in his path, and is absolutely obsessed with ducks (and geese, and chickens, and turkeys...they're all ducks to him).

I'm a former preschool teacher, and worked for almost a decade with children ranging in age from two years nine months to five.  I've been a stay at home mom since my eldest was eleven months old.  My husband is a landscaper, and we've been together for over ten years now.  

In all honesty, I don't know what my intentions are for this blog.  At the very least, it will be a record for myself and my boys of our experiences.  And if I wind up connecting with other homeschooling families through this blog, that would be an incredible added bonus.  

So this is really happening...

We're homeschooling.

It's a lot to wrap my head around.  Homeschooling.  I will be teaching my children at home.

I will be teaching my children at home.  Gulp.

This is a turn of events that I never would have predicted before becoming a mother.  I certainly never foresaw this as my future back when I was an wide-eyed, idealistic education major.  Sure, I was going to be teaching...but not my own children.  I was qualified to teach other people's children.  But not my own.  Never my own.

But as time passed, I found myself wondering...why?

Why would I be qualified - and trusted - to teach 20+ children completely unrelated to myself, but not my own?  Why would I be a better teacher to a classroom of 20+ little learners, each with their own individual strengths and weaknesses, experiences and backgrounds?  Children whom I'd have less than a year,  from September to June, to get to know and determine how to teach them best, how they learn best, before sending them off to their next teacher where the getting-to-know-them process begins all over again.  Why could I teach these children, but not my own?

 Why would someone else, who does not yet know my boys - each with their individual quirks and passions, struggles and strengths - be better suited to teach them than someone who has been with them every day of their lives to this point?

Since my children were born, I've met many families who homeschool or are planning to homeschool, as well as several adults who were homeschooled for at least part of their educational careers.  All have been intellegent, well-adjusted, creative, socially adept individuals who are passionate about learning, doing, living.

Homeschooling families are as varied as those who attend public schools.  They just made an educational choice for their children that is outside of the mainstream, but one that they feel is best for their children and for their families as a whole.

And isn't that what we all want, for our children, for our families, for ourselves?  To be able to make the best choice that we can, with the information and options that we have available to us at the time?

So here we are, ready to embark on a new adventure as a family.  And this blog will be a record of our educational journey.