Have you ever heard of people talking about picking one or the other. Well I often think why is it just one or the other, why not choose both?
Well this has become a reality for me in many ways. The latest is be being home with the kids and home schooling them and the kids being able to play with their friends at school. Natalie, as you know is in the school system in French immersion at Ecole Crane. I wanted her to be exposed to as much French as possible getting the basics in kindergarten and being exposed to the language every day, just like Andrew did 2 years ago.
The boys are still doing well with home schooling, they are learning lots and Natalie is coming home with new french words and phrases everyday. The boys are still learning French, Mandarin and music.
When Natalie started school in September, I saw a sign up looking for a lunch monitor at Ecole Crane and thought why not. So now 2 days a week I go to Ecole Crane for lunch and supervise a grade 2 class for half an hour and supervise the playground for another half hour. How perfect is this, 2 of Andrew’s buddies are in that class. So now he gets to see his buddies in the class while the kids are eating, and Matthew and Andrew get to play with their friends that they went to school 2 years ago outside on the playground for half hour twice a week. It is almost like getting child care and being paid for it!! Natalie being in kindergarten doesn’t get to play at the playground till spring next year so she benefits too, being able to play outside at the play structure.
People tell me they worry about home school kids not having enough socialization. There are so many ways to get together with other kids, there are so many groups with other home school kids and outings. I have many friends with kids in the same age group and they play well together. I choose both, having my kids at home and giving them another opportunities to play with their school friends too. Talk about a win-win situation!