I figured I should do this

As long as I've been on computers, I still don't have a blog. Aside from my dad, I'm probably the last person on earth to finally get one. Okay, my husband too - he's not the most tech-savvy person around.

Anyway, as I am beginning a huge journey, I thought some friends and family might appreciate a peek into things now and then. This can also serve as a place for me to think things through. Sometimes I just have to type it out.

What journey am I undertaking, you ask? Well... I'll just say it. Homeschooling. Get that picture out of your head! You know you have your own little ideas of what homeschoolers look like, but I can pretty much guarantee I don't look like it. If I ever do fit into that mold, you may shoot me.

This came about because my older daughter Becca just turned 5 last month. Here in our state and most states, that means it's kindergarten time! But we've had doubts for a couple of years about her going into kindy. She'd be 5.5 by the time the school year started, and without a trace of mommy pride, I can say that she's past that learning stage now. (Er, okay - a little mommy pride!) Who knows where she'll be in 4 more months? If we had been able to "test" her into kindergarten last fall, we could have sent her then without too many reservations. But she's had another year of preschool and another year of being a little voracious sponge of a learner! As much as she loves preschool, she's showing signs of boredom right now and even the teacher would have concerns about sending her right into a regular public school kindergarten.

And I also started to truly think about this. Your kid turns five, you send him off to kindergarten. That's what people do, right? Are we doing it because that's what you do when your kid turns five, or because it's the right and best thing for our child?

I admit to some parental anxiety about scooting my little Becca off to the "big bad world" as well. She's not sheltered; no I'm not a "helicopter parent," but it just seems like a huge thing to do; sending your five year old into a big school with kids more than twice her age. Times have changed, people - it's not the same as when you were a kid. I pictured it like this: We have nurtured a beautiful, radiant, perfect yet delicate flower. Putting her into a public school is like putting that bit of perfection into a towering thunderstorm. Would she survive? I mean she, the Becca we know and love, that awesome little personality. We want her to be Becca and nobody else. We never want her to sacrifice that for the sake of fitting in.

And I have to thank some online friends, who opened my eyes to the fact that - YES! - you can love dressing your kids in Gymboree and the like and still be a homeschooler. Some things, you never even think about!

So after a LOT of research, reading, asking, thinking, discussing... we came to the conclusion... and we are homeschooling Miss Becca.