Big changes this school year

I was all ready to begin our 7th year of homeschool. Curriculum purchased, lessons planned for the first term, books and supplies at the ready. And then I received an email from K12.

I've been on their email list for quite some time. I had checked out their curriculum, loved it, but decided I didn't want to shell out quite that much money and continued to piece together resources.

The message informed me that they had opened a virtual charter in MA and we could now enroll James in school, public school, but still educate from home.

The decision was agonizing. Do I hand over my autonomy, my ability to pick and choose individual course material, my ability to skip over lessons that are just busy work or that which I deem an unnecessary waste of time?

The answer, surprisingly, was yes. I want someone else to do the assigning. I want for James to have someone else to answer to. Heck I even want the accountability for myself.

Part of me feels like I just sold my soul to the school system for some shiny new books(though really, what better thing but books to sell out for?).

On the other hand, I have Sean officially joining us for school this year. He is on the brink of reading and I have math ready for him as well. Christopher will be crawling soon and the rest of my household responsibilities seem to be multiplying faster than you can say "Fresh baked bread". I would love an extrinsic schedule that will keep us on track. I would like to be done with school in June and not straggling through the summer, trying to finish.

When I think of James taking the state mandated MCAS this year, I do not recoil with thoughts of wasted time, but embrace the opportunity for him to practice standardized testing, something he has never had to do. He has quite specific goals for his future and a stellar SAT score will be required to get where he wants to be.

Will we do this every year? I cannot say. I don't know if next fall will find us homeschooling again, enrolled in the Virtual Academy, or even in a brick and mortar school. A lot will depend on where we are living.

In the meantime, I am excited for a new year and a new style of learning.