It’s Been a While!
Hey there! It’s been just over half a year since I was last actively posting on here. Actually, it was around the time I stopped posting that a few changes took place in our lives. Including our children’s schooling. So, I thought I’d take some time to explain how we got to where we are today.
The last “journal” post I published was in April last year. I had also drafted one in May that I never posted. Out of curiosity, I read over it today and it gives quite an intereting glimpse into the overwhelm I was feeling at the time: I had a 3-year-old, a 7-month-old, and had just returned to work. I was trying to adjust to a new rhythm in my life and I was struggling. Perhaps I’ll share an excerpt in my next journal update. But for now, let’s focus on the changes that came from that time!
Jump forward to September, and I quickly realised I still couldn’t keep up with the rhythm that we were living: rushing to get out the door in the morning, coming home and taking care of the little ones (11mo and 3.5yo) until bedtime, and only then having to pack away around the living area, and work through my lesson plans, correct my student’s work, etc. OR make time to rest and take care of myself. Hence why blogging kind of fell off to the side again.
To top it all off, we were heart-broken that it was no longer possible for us to send A to the school he’d been attending, and we needed to find a solution.
Changes
Considering School Options
We had been considering various backup school options for A. This meant we had visited other schools, joined waitlists, and even turned down a spot because the school didn’t seem like the right fit. We were also considering whether we’d opt for schooling in Flemish (which would align the children’s school holidays with ours, but add in a third language in the mix), or continue in French (one of the two already spoken at home and the one A used to begin learning letters and numbers, but holidays didn’t align at all).
But as we looked at our possible options, there were several other aspects about sending them away to school (especially at such a young age) that bothered me…
Trying to Make Sense of It
Firstly, as a full-time teacher I was already spending more hours in the week with other people’s children than my own. Then, depending on the school we’d end up choosing, there was a chance our holidays wouldn’t align, and so I’d spend even less time with them and have fewer holiday options.
On top of that, since both their dad and myself have to be at work by 8am and 8:30am, we’d have to sign them up for a before-school and after-school care. That meant that their school day would start around 7:30am and they’d be home no earlier than 5pm! That’s almost 10 hours away from home (five days a week!)! Further reducing our time together. Then, we’d bring them home, eat dinner and get ready for bed. We’d hardly get any proper time with them! And even if we did… they’d be exhausted from a long day (as would we) and we’d only get the worst of each other.
And then there was also the pedagogy: I’d just completed two Montessori diplomas and experienced a decade of teaching in an educational system that was different from the traditional: children were in multi-age groups, learning according to the child’s potential and personal capabilities, with people that I knew well and trusted. I found it difficult to accept the idea of having them attend a school system who’s values didn’t align with what I’d learned and lived.
Then I learned that A would have to start the first year of kindergarden all over again (the year he’d just completed!) because of his birth year. This really bothered me as he had acquired a lot of the skills that were required in traditional school kindergarden in just that one year already, and they wanted him to start over? To what purpose? I wanted him to be able to continue progressing at his own rhythm.
No matter how I looked at it, it not only didn’t feel right. But it just didn’t make sense. I wanted to be with my children. I didn’t want to give away the few precious years we have with them away to someone else. How can we educate them with our values if they’re spending the majority of their time with other people?
What about Homeschooling?
I’d played with the idea of homeschooling for a while. It may not be groundbreaking, but I don’t think it’s something that is very common, especially where we live. Luckily, my partner had relatives who homeschooled their children (one of the parents used to be a teacher too) and I had the opportunity to asked them how it worked out for them. It really sounded promising. As an overthinker and someone who will over-research everything before doing anything, I came to the conclusion that this genuinely could work.
Then came the second guessing (as usual): can *I* do this? Then I talked myself through it: As someone who has a teaching degree, two AMI Montessori diplomas and almost a decade of teaching experience in an international school (in multiple subjects, languages and age groups!!)… If I wasn’t qualified to do it, who would be? (Then I reminded myself that many successful homeschoolers don’t actually have any teaching qualifications at all, so I didn’t need to worry.)
So, we talked it over. The timing to make this decision was probably right, as I just so happened to already feel overwhelmed with our work-life rythm in September. I had just started questioning whether I could keep up this rythm for the entire school year (and we were barely a couple of weeks in!). The idea of changing to a part-time working schedule and homeschooling the little ones began to make a lot of sense.
Homeschooling It Is!
After discussing it, and making the necessary arrangements, that’s what we decided to do: I would work part-time and homeschool the children.
It’s been a bit of a learning curve. I set up a space in our living room dedicated to homeschooling with shelves dedicated to the various learning areas. That’s right, we’re doing Montessori-homeschooling. We haven’t perfected it yet. We’re working on it. Ideally, when all goes well we can commit to a 3-hour work cycle in the morning.
But here’s the one thing that’s been tricky: as J’s nap is in the afternoon, when we have to run errands or go to medical appointments or anything like that, we usually do that in the morning. Which, naturally, disrupts/reduces our morning work time.
Now I’m playing with the idea of trying to do the work cycle in the afternoon while the little one naps. Since we’ll be home anyway during that time, I feel like it’ll be easier to get into the work flow and get a proper work cycle in with more focus.
Concluding Thoughts
All in all, I’m quite happy with how it worked out. While I still have just as much work as before (I would argue, more, actually) at least I don’t have to rush out the door two of those days and I can fully be with my little ones, we get some of the house chores done (a bit less to do on the weekend!) and I get to find a little more balance this way.
Have you also ever considered homeschooling? What has kept your from switching? Or what has triggered the switch? I’d love to chat more in the comment section!
Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram at @littlemontessoribears, where you’ll get to have a continuous peek of our adventures!
Would you like more out of this blog series? I’m inviting you to join “The Audio Diary“, a private podcast, in which you can have an exclusive look, week-by-week for an entire year, into how a Montessori expert and mother navigates creating intentional spaces for baby, integrating Maria Montessori’s philosophy, while experiencing normal parenting challenges.
