Why hybrid?

3rd Grade Choral Performance

For the past two years I've been hybrid schooling my child. Let me tell you why. She attends a performing art magnet school that I ABSOLUTELY ADORE. I have enjoyed great relationships and strong communication with administrators and teachers alike, but there's no homework and I don't like that. I was raised by a 2nd grade teacher, and doing homework with her was a love language in our home. It was quality time spent together, so when I felt like it was missing in our home I decided to take action.

Doing homemade homework at her desk

Some might ask why I don't enroll her in private school or take her out and home school. I think those can be great options, but I don't think traditional, private, or homeschool is going to be the one size fits all solution that's best for every child, or even every phase of a child's life.

As a student, I attended a mixed lot of schools from public, magnet, back to public, then to private, public again, state college, and then private grad school. What I've learned is that there's something to be gained in each environment. The magnet elementary school I attended raised the bar and put me in class with kids who were gifted and challenged me every day. Each public school I attended connected me to my culture, poured into my self esteem, and provided seemingly unlimited county funded opportunities. The private school I attended was so rigorous it instilled a work ethic that carried me through long lecture days and even longer study nights until my education culminated with a doctoral degree. I'm not sure who I would be without all of those experiences. So for that reason, I'm hesitant to insist that any one schooling method is better than others and I chose to expose my daughter to them all until she find what works best for her.

Along the way we've created a great community to travel this road with. We host a thriving American Girl Book club, and for the first time, another friend will be joining us with our daily homework. I'm putting this information out there so that if anyone else can benefit from it, the work can continue to enrich not only the minds of children everywhere, but the relationships you share with their learning process. I'm glad you found us :-)