Each Child is Different

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As a mother of five beautiful children, I can say with certainty just how different each child is. Every child is unique. Every person is unique. When my children go through those little, "Oh you love him more," phases, I often say something like, "I love each of you equally, but you are all different & I love those differences." (something like that) We've homeschooled from the get go. My oldest son who passed away five years ago would be a senior in high school this year. My other children are 16, 14, 11, and 7. They are all unique. Nolan was quirky, funny, and motivated. He tried hard at school. He loved homeschooling always. He never had any desire to set foot in a normal school setting. I knew I could count on him to try his best. My next son, #2, is different than Nolan. He's super smart, but not motivated. Ok, I'll just say it, he's often quite lazy. He went through a short phase around 6th grade where he REALLY wanted to go to school. We live in very bad school district where the only option is sending to private school, i.e. MONEY. Sigh. Struggling with him wasn't fun and I honestly wanted to send him as well. We continued on our homeschooling path which includes a very good cooperative group which meets twice a week, offering core classes for the kids, and lots of fun "school" experiences. We've done it for about 8 years now. Anyway, at some point, #2 felt content with our world as it was. His friendships thrived. However, his lack of motivation continued. So this year, he started his sophomore year of high school at a brand new Catholic school where we received a good financial assistance package. It's been good for him. It's what works best for him. So along comes #3 who has little interest in leaving our homeschool coop, but I want to send her to high school. So we've taken a test, shadowed at school, etc. But the school just let us know tuition is going up. We are just getting by with sending our son. She doesn't want to go anyway. Decision? Well, this girl is more motivated. She's actually already started talking to me about taking classes at the junior college as soon as she is able to, during high school. I know many kids who've done this, including my niece who actually did it while attending public school. My niece started college at 18 having already completed a full year during high school. So this is my daughter, #3, who wants to follow that path. She's motivated. So that's what we will do. She will continue to homeschool, but she will plan to start taking classes at the community college probably her sophomore year. As for my #4 and #5, who knows what their high school paths will be. #4 is behind on school, just a little slower, a lot ADHD, and less motivated. #5 is super bright, but a little ADHD. But they are young. So who knows.