On the eve of most local schools starting back, I’ve realised I’m missing a powerful feeling I’ve had for the last four years. This week marks the official start of our fifth year of home educating both girls. My mind is blown that it’s been that long and that we’re now over halfway through our home ed journey.
But this year feels different. For the first time since we started back in 2020, we’ve not had a wobble. We’ve not doubted at all this year that home education is the right thing for our family. That feels WONDERFUL!!!!!
In 2022 we navigated through the process of Aggie choosing to not go to high school. It was a massive decision for her and one that brought tears and anxiety for all of us. She didn’t get to go to the year 6 leavers’ events, the high school induction days or have the excitement of getting new uniform for September; she had major FOMO and it did upset her greatly. As a result, we chose to go away in the first week of September to escape her peers who were excitedly talking about their new schools. Needless to say, on our return, the novelty for them had already worn off!
Fast forward another year to 2023, Peggy decided she didn’t want to go to high school either. It was a much easier decision for her but there was still some FOMO. Again, we went away at the start of September to avoid all the school talk.
This year in 2024 we don’t need to remove ourselves from home and school talk. This year we honestly don’t care! The girls have very few schooled friends who actually enjoy school; they hear more negative than positive things from their peers. I’ve noticed our girls have begun to share more openly about our adventures as they don’t feel so awkward about being home educated any more; it’s now their friends who have FOMO and not them.
Don’t get me wrong, I do still wobble. I wobble massively over whether I’m good enough to help them achieve the highest GCSE grades we believe they’re capable of. But, those wobbles aren’t about whether we SHOULD home educate; they’re about HOW we home educate. And that, for me, is so much easier to bear.
