Let's start this out on the right foot...
I'm a thief.
I totally stole the name of this blog from my little group of friends. We had a teeny-tiny co-op last year, with just a handful of families and very casual ambitions, and we called ourselves the Homemade Heroes. (Although, to be fair... I think I'm the one that came up with the name in the first place. I don't fully remember.) I loved it so much that I decided to keep it when our little co-op dissolved. (It's okay, they told me I could... so I guess that isn't stealing after all.)
Why Homemade Heroes?
Because that's what we're aiming for. I want my kids to grow up into amazing people. They're well on their way, already! I want them to be the kind of person that others look up to as their own personal hero. I have many heroes in my life that I would LOVE to have my kids turn out to be like. My dad, my oldest brother, President Thomas S. Monson. The guy who invented chocolate. I want them to feel like they can make a difference in the world, or at least in the people around them.
Not only do I want them to grow up to be amazing, but I want to be the one to help them get there. Ever since my oldest kiddo (to be known henceforth as "Thing 1") was in Kindergarten, I've wanted to homeschool her. I've toyed with the idea off and on over the years, even attempted some supplementing and summer school, but couldn't quite make that leap across the chasm. The time just wasn't right. I've sat on the sidelines and watched my friends teaching their kids, wishing the Lord's answer had been "yes".
And then... and then and then and then.... YES! A year or so ago my son (Thing 4) was having some serious issues at school. I researched, I prayed, I agonized, I feared... and the Lord gave me permission to go ahead and try it. Since the school was threatening to hold him back anyway, I figured that even if all we did was fill in the 1st grade gaps and nothing else, we'd be no worse off than having him repeat 1st grade at the school. His sisters looked on in envy as he and I dove into homeschool. We took trips to the zoo, we baked cakes, we created volcanic eruptions and tornadoes. AND HE THRIVED. We were able to fill in all those gaps within the first semester, and then tackled what we could of 2nd grade with what was left of the year. And wouldn't you know it? He passed a 2nd grade end-of-year assessment that I found online. Yes, he still needs some major hovering-over from Mom. Yes, he still HATES anything to do with picking up a pencil and writing actual words. But he's reading. He's doing math. He's exploring science (especially the sky!). He's LOVING homeschool! The day he told me he loved homeschool was the day it was all worth it. All the tears, all the head-butting battles, all the threats to send him back to public school if he didn't cooperate and just DO THE WORK*... they were a rough start, but we got past them and ended up finding our groove.
The girls all continued to beg, and eventually my husband and I decided it was worth a shot. Everybody is home this year, and so far it's going pretty smoothly. I'll have future posts on how that's all arranged (naturally... who would want to read a blog that only had one post?). For now, suffice it to say that I have a lot more calm and confident feelings for this school year. A lot less freaking out about "what if I ruin my kid and they don't get into college???" and a lot more fun exploring what THEY want to learn about. We'll see where this adventure leads us...
* This is a BAD idea. Don't make this threat. Seriously. After roughly 3 days he started saying "Yes! Send me back! I hate homeschool!" and of course that didn't fit in with what I felt he needed.
