I never understood homeschoolers...

...until I had one of "those" children.

My decision to homeschool my son has nothing to do with religion. I am a life-long atheist who supports freedom of religion 100%. My son currently does not have any religious beliefs. All he knows about Jesus is whatever he's heard out in the real world or on television. We discussed Jesus briefly in the context of Christmas and Easter. I didn't deny the existence of Jesus or say anything about religion, other than to say some people have beliefs that are important to them, and that faith is a good thing.

I have faith in my decision to start homeschooling my son. He has been asking since he was in first grade, when he first started having trouble with being bullied. I remembered those feelings all too well. Despite the bullying, I enjoyed school. My son does not. He has difficulty coping in certain situations, particularly when they involve his peers. He has low tolerance for chatter when he's trying to work, or for classmates cheating at games or not following the rules. He is bored with the work. A lot of focus is on reading, which he hates when he has to do it. I can relate. If I have to read or write something as a requirement, I get all sorts of discombobulated and it's just a disaster. But he enjoys reading and writing about things he enjoys.

So what does he enjoy? He loves science, especially astronomy and meteorology (hello, this is MY son!!!), and computers. Like most boys his age, he likes gaming. More than once, he has asked to design his own game. He likes to build with Legos (and Minecraft) and make modified weapons with his Nerf guns. He enjoys taking apart broken electronics to see how the internal pieces fit together. He likes making movies with a video camera, or doing screen capture on the computer. He writes and draws comic books, watching medical procedures on YouTube, and researching weird stuff. He is curious, and questions everything (including authority but hello, this is MY son!!!).

We have talked a lot lately about homeschooling, and what it would mean for him. He understands that he's not going to sit home and play video games. He knows he will have work to do. He knows that I will be guiding him through a lot of it. He knows we have a strong network of family and friends who have valuable skills and lessons to share with him. He gives me grief every time I mention actual work. I want him to take a math assessment so I can see where he is, because I'm sure he can do math beyond the 5th grade level. He looked at me, rolled his eyes, and walked out of the room. That's okay. He doesn't have to do it now. Or at all. This is a learning process for me, too. I have to stop thinking in terms of public school curriculum and structure and assessment. Though I'm 100% committed to this and eager to get started, I realize that my views are going to change over time, and the only resistance is mental.