I did a weird thing today...

I talked to someone else (gasp!) about educating my son. For some reason, just the simple thought of turning him over for two half-days a week at the local Waldorf school really kinda freaked me out. What? Pay someone else to teach him things that I won't be part of? I mean, I don't even set him in front of a television without being there with him to talk about what we see and hear. Call me overprotective (he is only 2 for crying out loud!) and controlling. No really, I am. And why shouldn't I be? That's another "philosophy of homeschooling" post for you. Not this one.

At any rate, I was freaked. I love the activities, the environment, even the subject matter taught in a Waldorf setting. I love the idea of getting some minimal exposure of my child to other kids his age. I love the idea of getting involved with a parents-of-preschoolers community. So where does my anxiety come from. I mentioned to the enrollment coordinator at Prairie Moon that it was weird considering education for my firstborn; sending him off to someone else for the caring and feeding of my spawn. She smiled and nodded. "Silly young mama," I'm sure she thought. "We do have a lot of homeschoolers who come here around 3rd grade, either because its just not working for the kids...or the parents," she casually explained to me when I told her of my plans for part-time schooling and aspirations to educate mine own at my home. How silly indeed, I must be.

Digress as I may, I still have a weird, uneasy feeling about sending Mcclellan off (not even until 2010!) to another school (and this one is even private!). I guess it comes down to me just not being ready (fine, I still have like, 10 months), and needing to do more research in when/where/if to put my kids for any outside-the-home education. There is a Montessori I still want to check in to, and I really need to explore Prairie Moon specifically to see if it will fit in with a Biblical worldview; if it would be edifying, supplemental, or just downright distracting. Oh, yes, I plan on spending days with these preschool classrooms to see if they are right for my kids.

How do public schooling parents do this? Yes, I know I am an overachiever and an idealist. But, seriously: How do parents plan to send their kids off to public schools. Judgments and arguments for or against public/private/homeschooling aside, I really do want to know. A discussion on our philosophy of homeschooling? Oh, you can bet there will be one of those eventually!