This week marked the return to school for me—it’s my first time back in a classroom in three years. I will be teaching a small class of third grade girls once a week. It’s a big change. The last time I graded a paper or corrected a misspelling was when I was seven months pregnant with Nate. And I was teaching co-ed high school English class. There’s a lot more pink this time.
Nate was very excited to come along with me, even if it was just to play in the child care for the morning. I packed his monkey backpack with toys and snacks while he jabbered away about going to “cool.” We’re both thrilled with the change—it’s good to be back to non-summer life again.
This year, though, it’s a bit different as both a parent and a teacher. I’ve begun to see my teaching choices as something that impacts Nate’s future. Before, I just figured out what worked for my students. Now, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m making the best educational choices for him.
Daniel and I have an unusual educational background. We were both taught by our parents at home, from kindergarten to high school. We never attended a single day in a school, public or private. And no, it wasn’t a deprivation. We consider ourselves lucky to have parents who were so carefully involved in our lives. We were taught well.
That’s why people often ask us if we plan to homeschool Nate. There was a time I would have said yes wholeheartedly, but I find the answer much more complicated. Homeschooling has its benefits, definitely, but those stereotypes you’ve heard? There’s a lot of truth to them. I find the the traditional first-generation homeschooling culture to a little, well, unhelpful, in many ways. I want something more robust, more healthy for my family and my son.
But it makes sense for a teacher to teach her son. I want to be involved, to re-learn alongside him. Daniel has a very thorough grasp of history and he’s excited to share that. We love the idea of learning together. Right now, it means taking Nate along to my part-time teaching position and being a part of that community together. He’ll be old enough for preschool next year and that that will likely be me teaching him at home, with weekly supplementation from his tutor.
Two years from now? I have no idea. And that’s a good thing, I think. It forces me to re-evaluate our priorities and our situation every year. Life changes and so do our responses to it. I can see Nate and I being part of a private school community together a few years in the future. Educational choices are just that—a choice. Families should evaluate what gifts and resources they have and strive for the best in their situation. That will vary among families and even vary within a family from year to year.
For now, we’ve made the right choice. And I’m excited to see what it brings to us. I’m not sure if Nate is more excited about that or his sky-blue lunchbox, but I hope it’s a good year.