Home schooling has turned out to be more work than we first thought. Aspen and Jake are at it 3 to 4 hours a day, five days a week. But that’s instead of over 6 hours a day in the public schools.

Jake is styling. He has his own computer. It’s his to use as long as he’s enrolled in COVA, the Colorado Virtual Academy. He also has workbooks, reading books, and various other tools for learning. He even has workbooks for art and for music. He has time set aside for physical education too.

The main thing though, is that every day, for those 3 to 4 hours, Jake is getting individual attention, both from Aspen and from the computer. Jake likes this. He’s very much a one-on-one person. And he really likes computers too.

When I saw all this happening with Jake, I felt sorry for all the kids in the public schools that have to figure out what the teacher is saying (if they are even listening.) They always have to interpret what is being said and what is expected of them. This is so because the teacher is talking to – take your pick – the brightest kids, the slowest kids, or the mystical average kids. Some of the kids just won’t get the message.
.

At first, I felt sorry for Callahan still being in the public school system. But after I had thought about it, I became very proud of him for making it all the way through the system to the 5th grade. And not just making it there, but doing it very well. For awhile, he was struggling, especially with reading, but he persevered and has ended up a fine student. He’s very creative too and wants to focus on this side of himself in middle school next year.

Callahan is also very social. He has many friends. He might have had an easier time with learning if he had been home schooled, but he would have missed out on the social side of it. And that is very important to Callahan; it’s who he is. He has a gift. Everyone likes him – and he likes everyone too.