Schooling Nightmare: Home School vs Real School

In case you aren't aware, I've been homeschooling my padawan for the majority of his Kindergarten year. While it's been amazing and I truly loved our little adventures along with his many experiences in the real world, I think those adventures need to be saved for vacations and weekends. 

I'll be honest, it's kind of killing me to admit this and I truly don't want to send my little guy to public school, but I do think it's necessary for his life. 

For the past few weeks we've been struggling with him enjoying school and going to his "enrichment classes". He simply didn't want to learn anymore. It broke me. I couldn't convince him to make friends, I couldn't show him that school was fun, I couldn't get him to sit with me anymore and learn. That was when I realized that the solitude he had semi-endured with learning at home, along with the very...strange children at the enrichment classes were hindering his idea of what school was truly about. 

So I decided to start the process in transferring him into a public school. With a catch.

You see, he's [unfortunately] gained this perception of school being a breeding ground for strange and "unusual" kids that are consistently staring at him and running rampant like they own the place. So instead of just shoving him into regular school and hope for the best, I will be volunteering at the school to help him integrate easy. 

I truly don't want to be without him, but I know it's a necessary pain in order to help him gain confidence, independence, and the challenging knowledge he needs to be successful in all his endeavors the world has to offer him. The best part is that I will be with him through it all and while I will be eagerly awaiting him to get off school, I know that vacation is when I can plan all our getaways. 

While I don't think all home schoolers are weird, nor are the charter school kids, I just don't see this as a fit for my son and I. Being a Kindergartner was simple, but he needs socialization and challenges. I don't know how this will go, but you can bet that I will be blogging about it. 

The reasons I feel exiting the home school/charter program is beneficial, exceeds just the simple fact that the school experience wasn't appealing to my son. It also has to do with the program itself. 

You see, the enrichment classes were indeed blended with Kindergarten and first graders, but my padawan already surpassed the lessons. The teachers weren't necessarily encouraging him to make friends either, as they would simply sit with him and let him feel alone. 

Yes, I'm aware of how bad that sounds, which is why I want him to feel loved, but encouraged to branch out. He excels with the other kids at church class, so I know it's not the fact that he's shy (which he is). It's simply that he can't connect with the other kids nor do they make any attempt to be his friends either. 

Again, I don't know what will happen, but I'm highly anticipating his schooling experience. I hope for the best and will prepare for the worst. That should really be the parenting motto.