Homeschooling: My Journey

As you know, I started signing with my oldest daughter when she was a few months old.  She has been a little sponge right from the start and at 3 years old has started to read.  I really attribute this snowball effect to the use of sign language.  So in many ways I feel like I’ve been homeschooling her from the beginning, although my intentions have only been to teach her about the world around her and to have fun while doing it.

Needless to say, she is ahead of most children her age, which puts me in a dilemma when it comes to schooling.  I already know at her tender age of 3 that she will not fit in the public schools because she would be bored by the time she starts Kindergarten.  We considered private school because they can be a bit more flexible about a child entering school a year sooner, but even they are not comfortable with advancing a child more than a year.  It is understandable because schools look at a child from a social perspective and it wouldn’t be right to put a 5 year old in with 8 year old kids- I get that.

So really the only option left is to homeschool my daughter.  If I want to keep her interested in learning and to allow her to progress at her own rate, then I gladly take on that responsibility.  I don’t want to hold her back by not teaching her, just so she fits in with kids her own age.  Just as any parent has to accept their child’s rate of learning (whether disabled, average, or gifted) I have to accept hers and everything that comes with it, too. I do have faith in my daughter and us as parents that we will make the right decisions as we continue to navigate our homeschooling journey.  It may be a bit bumpy, but hopefully fun…welcome along for the ride!