It's Family Friday on the Blog. I was trying to think of some really witty thing that one of kids said that I could relay to you, but they're being brats today. So instead, I will introduce you to Max, my oldest.
He was born on a cold night in October 93 in Reston, VA. NAFTA was the hot topic at the time. A cute little guy with an ultra-large tummy. It actually prevented him from sitting up and walking on time. However, the extra months of physical inactivity allowed his brain to develop in ways that we knew would be trouble, even at the tender age of 9 months.
Fast forward to a few years later - we had moved to Arizona, had a 2nd child (wait for next Family Friday), and Max was ready for school. He was only 4, but very ready for full time kindergarten. I wanted to homeschool then - homeschooling has always been very popular in Arizona (very poor public education - 49th in the nation at the time!). But it wasn't to be at that time. I had to work, we needed to eat; but I did find a charter school with a homeschool curriculum that he thrived in. By this time, Max had already been telling me that he was going to be an astronaut for 2 years. When he was 6, he realized the chances of becoming an astronaut were slimmer than previously realized, so he set his sights on becoming a pilot. Add another sibling (two Family Fridays from now), and then we moved here to central Virginia.
It was here in our lovely Chesterfield County PS system that put the final nail in the coffin. Over the next 3 school years, Max continued to thrive, study the cosmos, and accelerate in mathematics. There was no doubt that he was gifted in math and science. Everyone said so, his teachers, our friends, strangers in the street (Max isn't shy), anyone that spoke with him. However, the County felt that putting him in the teacher-recommended math class, simply wasn't going to happen because he was already a year younger than everyone else in the class. Hmm, ability is not as important as age. Good to know.
I saw too many documentaries about the middle school years and panicked. I have this amazing, bright, funny, innocent, religious kid and they were going to turn him into an unrecognizable monster - I was sure of it! AND they won't put him in classes that he's capable of, because he's chronologically challenged. There, I said it. Max is chronologically challenged - he is too young for his grade. Never mind his abilities, social graces, well-roundedness, and good heart.
After much prayer, discussions with Kevin, talking to other homeschooling families, I decided to quit my very good job and homeschool Max. The others were still in school that first year while I got my feet wet. Ronan was just a baby and slept all the time (3 Family Fridays from now). It was hard. We didn't like it so much the first 2 months. We struggled with each other, trying to find our place, style, and roles. But we did figure it out and it became more enjoyable.
Over the years, we have changed our style, all the kids have been home for a couple of years now, and so we have revamped and readjusted a few times. My greatest epiphany was when I met Jenny (who also homeschools) and I saw her very unstructured life with beautiful, well-spoken, good-hearted children. Then I relaxed and we all breathed easier. It works well now. We have a rhythm that changes with the weather, but it works. Max has accelerated so much over the last couple of years - he's in 11th grade now. We're looking at colleges, thinking about SATs, plotting career lines - it's all very scary; he's only 14. But his head sits firmly on his shoulders and I don't worry about him. I worry about me. What will I do without him? I will miss him in a couple of years when he goes away.
He'll be taking college classes locally first. 15 or 16 is too young to live away; but eventually, he'll transfer or we'll move to that farm I'm dreaming of. He's a good young man - not even a kid anymore really. You can check out some of his scientific experiment videos by following the link in the sidebar. He's dreaming of a career in chemical physics - renewable energy, propulsion, something beyond my grasp. He recently got over a rocket propellant phase - and he managed to keep all limbs and digits in the right place! Now it's magnetics. I think he's trying to create an electromagnetic power source - small scale for now, but no doubt it'll get bigger. I just keep telling him to either hook up the house or the car - save me money somehow!
Keep your eye on him!
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