Baby Home Schooling

Dear Ash,

You're going to be home schooled. Some people think that's crazy.

It's something your father and I knew before we even got married, though. Your dad and all his siblings were home schooled. If she could have, your grandma would have home schooled my brothers and me as well. We were both able to see the advantages of home schooling.

There are a lot of "arguments" against home schooling. You're not even old enough for school yet, but I already have people sharing with me their I-knew-a-person-who-turned-out-uneducated/awkward/horrible-"because-of"-being-home-schooled stories and shock at the idea that I would put my kids at that "disadvantage".

I was thinking this past weekend about your sleep situation. When we first brought you home, your father and I had no idea what we were doing. We were NOT sleep experts. We'd set you down in your co-sleeper and within a minute, you'd start crying. We would change you, feed you, and attempt (and when I say attempt, I mean, we tried but honestly had no idea how to) swaddle you. Nothing worked. So we took you in shifts. And then people came to help and they took some shifts too. And we got you to sleep in your crib occasionally.

Then we started putting you to sleep in your car seat. And I bought a swaddle blanket. And we got white noise. And on and on and on. We did everything we could to get you to sleep when we wanted you to be sleeping. It didn't always work. You went through a phase where you woke up every fifteen minutes. You went through a forty five minutes nap phase. You had a time when you wouldn't sleep between ten and one in the morning.

Through it all, I read like crazy. I read literally everything I could find on baby sleep. I read blogs. I read sample baby sleep schedules. I read books. And I learned a lot about sleep in general and also how baby sleep cycles work. But the thing that I became expert on wasn't sleep, or even baby sleep. It was MY baby's sleep. I am an expert on your sleep. I know how to get you to go to sleep. I have a 90% guess rate within five minutes of when you'll wake up. I can tell if you are too mad/worked up to go to sleep or if I just need to leave you be for a minute.

I think that's how home schooling is. I am not an expert in science or math or history. I know a lot about writing, but I'm still learning. I am a great reader, but I've never taught anyone else how to read. But the thing is, I know that won't really matter. I'll learn and read and use some of the endless resources that are available. I will do my very best to make sure I am doing my part. But the most important thing is not to be an expert in every subject. The important thing is to be an expert in you, in how you learn.

That's the beauty of home schooling. I know it's not for everyone. I also know that public school isn't bad, or even not good. I was in public school until college. But I do know that for my family, for my children, home schooling will be the best thing. With my children home with me, I can help them learn the way they learn best. I can meet their individual needs and do what I, as their mother, know is going to work for them. I can do what works best for you.

I feel that I am already beginning our home school journey, even though you are still so small. You learn so quickly, it amazes me. You are so smart. I pray that I can help give you confidence in yourself. I pray that I can help you see how smart and talented you are. I pray that I can give the best education, the best one for you.

Love,
Mom