K12: Going Back

This morning as I was getting things ready for the kids's K12 curriculum, I said, "I hate this."  I decided then and there to leave the Virtual Academy.  I know, you could see that from the beginning.  I could too, but I was hoping to make it jive with what we already had going.

I hated having to do it their way.  I hated having to answer to someone ALL OF THE TIME.  I hated having to push the kids to do work for which they had no passion.  (I'm not about to argue that you have to study only things that you want to study, but I think it is fruitless to study only things in which you aren't interested.)  I long for the freedoms we had before.  If my son reads something about immigration and finds it interested, I hated having to tell him to stop looking into that and go on to the next chapter.  Silly.

I sat down with the boy and explained my feelings.  He told me that he likes being busy.  He says he is more responsible with other things when he has a full load.  I agree, but I don't want him busy just for busy's sake.  I want him busy because he loves what he is learning.

A misconception I had from the beginning about K12 was that it would be easier on me because I didn't have to create the curriculum every day.  I found that I was just as busy, if not more so, trying to keep up with checking all of their boxes.  It was so frustrating to think we had had a great school day to go online and spend an hour, literally checking boxes.  I would rather have spent that hour learning and preparing to teach.

So, we're throwing in the towel.  I'm going to keep using the parts of the K12 curriculum that I like as long as I can--until they demand I send it back.  It is the first time I've ever been able to take advantage of my contribution to public school's tax revenue.

Can I just tell you how much relief I feel?  As I write this, I have my Pandora's Dance station playing.  The kids are dancing behind me and I'm going to join them as soon as I hit "publish."  You know it wasn't a good fit when we have a party after making the decision to end it.