The shearing

Last week Benjamin participated in Dance Nationals for hip hop and tap.  For his hip hop duet his hair needed to be long.
Next week he is attending the Youth Ballroom Dance Camp at BYU for which he needs short hair. BYU has very strict dress and grooming standards. 
He loves having his hair long generally, but it is less fun in the summer.  Heat, swim team, and a very primitive scout camp make his long hair less desireable. 
So yesterday was finally the day!  And for your viewing pleasure, I give you the obligatory before and after. (first time posting pics from my phone direct to blogger...no idea why they're sideways or how to fix right now. sorry!)

"Judge Not" and other words I have eaten

I have a confession to make.

If you are a home schooler, I have judged you.  I can think of exactly 3 people I know who did or do homeschool where I thought "That is absolutely the best idea for you and your family!".

Some of you have probably heard me make the following statements:

*Yes, but what about the lack of socialization?  Learning to deal with peers and difficult situations is part of the traditional school experience!


*I don't understand anyone who would choose to live in [fill in the name of a town that has extremely high taxes relative to the surrounding towns] and NOT use the schools!!


*The kids I know who were homeschooled were just weird.


*I'm a public school teacher.  I believe if the system isn't working for your child, you need to work with the teachers to come up with a plan that will work for everyone.


*I've had so many amazing experiences that I couldn't have had anywhere but a traditional school setting. 


*My kids are exposed to my weaknesses all the time.  I like the idea of them having a variety of teachers who present the world to them in a way that's different from what I do.

I did hedge my bets a little.  Many years ago I decided that if I ever needed to, I could and would do it.  If I ever had a child who simply could not thrive in a traditional school setting.  It has only been in the last 3 years that I have come around to the idea that maybe there is something to the idea of homeschooling a child.  Part of it is having a child who does not fit the mold that like it or not is there for a public school student.  It's a large mold and supposedly fits all, but like most things marked one size fits all, sometimes it just doesn't work for you.  I have one of those kids.

The other thing that has helped my decision is that the world of secular homeschoolers has become a bigger and better place.  I know people who homeschool because they want to protect their children from the evils of the world and I can certainly understand that.  There are genuinely scary things out there that our kids get bombarded with on a regular basis.  But I don't think the world is evil.  There are so many good and beautiful things that my children and learned and experienced in school.  I am very grateful for those and the incredible teachers, volunteers, and administration who have helped that happen.

I will be homeschooling Caleb this year.  He still loves school and has happy and positive feelings about it.  That's part of the reason we are doing this now.  We wanted to catch him before school got too hard and the experiences became less positive and the teachers less able (because of the needs of the other students in the classroom and the curriculum they must teach) to help Caleb with some of his difficulties in learning.  The other boys will continue on in a traditional educational setting, and we hope to eventually put Caleb back into public school.  In the meantime, we are going to work hard to get him caught up in areas that he has been struggling with since he started public school three years ago.

Caleb has had AMAZING teachers all three years he's been in public school.  Those women practically designed a whole curriculum specifically for him and were endlessly bending over backwards to help him with all that he needed.  I can not say enough good things about them and their dedication to their callings as teacher, not to mention the love that they showed to him.  I firmly believe that they loved him through school to this point and that's why he still feels warmly about it.

I spent much of this year hemming and hahing about whether to do go ahead and withdraw him from school.  It wasn't until I had positive confirmation from his psychologist, a psycho-educational evaluation from another psychologist, and my husband suddenly felt more strongly about me homeschooling than going back to work sooner rather than later, that everything came together and I felt like I needed to go ahead with it.

I am grateful that we are able to do this-That I am still home and able to give Caleb the one on one attention that he needs.

Here goes the next adventure in life!