To Homeschool or Not To Homeschool....?

      

I think that when I decided to home school my kids, I was the first of my friends and family to really give it a go and everyone thought I was NUTS! I guess I can't blame them.  I was stepping out on a ledge from the normal and everyone seemed to find it scary and unrealistic.

 

Here's the questions I got (if you're considering homeschooling you might have heard a few of these or even asked them yourself)

 

Q: Don't you want your kids to socialize?

 

A: My kids do socialize! They get a chance to interact with lots of people all throughout the day and they aren't shy about it either because they learn from example through myself. Why would I want my kids to only socialize 5 days a week, 6+ hours of the day with only the age group that they are in? Come on, really? I want my child to be able to handle life and its experiences ,not throw a tantrum or roll their eyes at me because that's what all the other kids their age do. Show me a handful of public schoolers that can interact with senor citizens as if it's normal or treat a younger child as an equal. My kids need to learn respect and I can show them that while they get to meet other people from all walks of life.

 

Q: Are you smart enough to teach your own kids?

 

A: Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence. Hello, I am their mom! I have been teaching my children from day one. Who do you think taught them to walk, talk, and pee in the toilet? ME, ME, ME! If you have ever potty trained, you know that's a challenge all in itself. I graduated high school so I better darn know how to do something in this life. When I do get stuck there's a world full of knowledge waiting to help me. No shame in asking for it, either. Internet, library, tutors...you make it one day at a time and you move on. So yes, I am smart enough to teach my kids.

 

If you were ever in school, think about what you actually use today (besides math)? I want my kids to learn fun stuff, okay English too. But basically I want them to learn how to survive in this life on top of normal schoolwork and I can teach them how to budget a bank account, read contracts, or even how to live credit card FREE! Yup, no credit cards. What in the world is that like to a pre-30-year-old these days?

 

Q: What about graduation?

 

A: Well if you're like me and involved in your local home school group, you're most likely going to have a group of kids your kids' ages, so you can have a little graduation ceremony and all the hoopla if you really want to. If you're wondering about diplomas, that's an easy fix as well. The options are out there. You can charter and actually have a school that follows your child throughout the years and they get a diploma from the school they (cough) attend. Or you can private home school and for a really small fee, like $10 a year or something, you can sign up with companies like HSLDA http://www.hslda.org/ that will actually send your child and accredited diploma from "YOUR SCHOOL". That's another story about you starting up a private school, but not hard to do.

 

Q: Don't you feel like they should go to prom?

 

A: OH BOY! NOPE. What is prom anyway? Any TV show these days only talks about how teens go to prom just to have sex after the dance, and it seems like if you ask any teen, that's what they agree with. If they even go, cause you know, "prom's lame" and all that “I am too cool for school dances anyways” attitude.

 

Again, if you have a good home school connection you can set up something with the other parents and have school dances or whatnot. My daughters will have weddings one day if they feel like getting married, and will make a big deal out of the dancing portion of that. I went to public school and the dances weren't anything I care to relive. So nope, I am not worried about it.

 

Q: How do you know what to teach them?

 

A: You can teach them whatever you see fit! The joy of home school is that you're the teacher and you teach whatever method works best for you and your family. A little research can go a long way as well. The internet is full of "State Standards" what the government thinks your child should be learning and at what age they need to learn it. Funny thing is, they throw all the kids in one box. As a parent/gaurdian you know that not all kids learn at the same rates, so you get to speed along as fast or slow as your child needs. You do one on one training with them and don't move on til they actually understand what they learn. Besides, some things that they are teaching in school is just silliness. Yes, my 5th grader knows her states and capitals, but really, who needs that information? It's not like I am going on a game show. We made a game out of it and she picked them up quickly but we didn't spend much time on them because I really didn't see them as a have-to-have in life. 

 

Q: What kind of methods do you use?

 

A: Again, the research is out there, so find what's best for your family. There are charter schools, private schooling, unschooling, traditional schooling.....on and on and on. I could do a whole post on what this all is but that would take up a bunch of time. That's why there are big fat thick books on it.

 

Q: Do you teach because you're a religious nut?

 

A: Probably more now than when I first started ;) And God is important in my family's life, but no, that isn't the main reason I home school. I want to know what's going into my child's brain,  just like I want to know what they are eating. It's important to me to feed their souls as well as their bodies. No, we don't use curriculum that has Jesus in the name or 1 Jesus plus 1 Jesus is how many Jesus's? That's silly. But I do want to teach them what I believe is right from wrong and not what the world's opinion is. They have their whole adult life to find out what the world thinks. For right now they are children, and I think it's important to let them be kids without thinking about boys, or girls, or what looks sexy or blah blah blah. We can just focus on what's important: being a kid as long as possible and learning what they need to learn.

 

Q: Oh, so you shelter your kids then?

 

A: YUP. I guess you can say I do. I don't let my 8 year old watch shows about sex or violence or anything else that I find inappropriate, but I do let them grow and learn about what is age appropriate. I was in a video game store one day trying to sell the Wii that we had that no one used (see, we have electricity--we're not crazy) and I overheard the clerk tell the dad about the son's game he wanted to purchase, that it was not age appropriate for him and had lots of violence, launguage, and skimpy clothing. To my surprise the dad said, "Oh okay, we'll still get it." My guess was the son was maybe 12 years of age? You have got to be joking me. The clerk goes out of his way to point out that it's really not a good game for him and the father is more like, who cares. If that's not okay then I don't know what is. So yes, I shelter them. I figure I will sleep better that way. No nightmares to wake them up, therefore no nightmares that wake me up. I am open and honest if they have questions, and if I feel the question isn't age appropriate, I tell them when they get to that age we'll talk about it then. Deal?

 

Q: How do you meet other homeschoolers?

 

A: Goodness, we don't live in caves. Use your internet, people. For example, I am moving to England this year. I went online and looked up things like, "home schooling in England", "home education in the UK", and Yahoo groups with similar titles.

BINGO- I found three home school groups--well there they say home educate groups--in the area right around where we'll be moving. I asked to join the group and guess what? They accepted me. I told them my deal on why I wanted to join and the big move we have coming up and I actually got a bunch of email responses from moms that were in the group and welcoming me in.  We have already made at least one good connection with another family and we are very excited to have something to look forward to in our "SOCIAL" life. We already feel like we have friends there. Now tell me one time you meet anyone from your child's public school pre-move and felt like you already had a friend there? .....Que crickets.......?.......?........? I didn't think so. Home schooling moms want to make friends just as much as the children in home schooling do. It's a win-win. You get to actually know the children that your kids like and the parents like. None of this “who are you with and what do you do” nonsense. When they are old enough to drive, you can give them more freedom on friend-finding on their own, but as long as I have to cart them from event to event I am for sure going to know who they are hanging out with. (Again, age appropriate.)

 

Q: Don't you want a break from your kids?

 

A: If I wanted a break from my kids why would I have ever had them in the first place?

No I do not want a break from my kids. Before I know it they will be off in the world and not want a whole lot to do with me (probably pre-kids, then they will be begging grandma to babysit for date night). So I want to spend as much time with them as I can. Studies have shown that not only are home schooled/educated families closer, they know how to communicate with each other. Public school teaches us how to be apart from each other. We end up getting to a point where we really need that alone time and we do not understand how to function with each other when things get stressful or overwhelming. When you're forced to face issues on a daily basis while the child and parents grow together ,you learn how to deal with all situations and you don't end up needing to constantly have space from everyone. None of this, "I cant wait til summer break ends. I want you to go back to school." Now I do have my moments where I want to scream, run away and hide. I am only human. What parent doesn't? But I also don't want to miss out on what life has to offer. Seeing my kids use their brains and the smile that crosses their faces when the light bulb clicks is amazing! You didn't want to miss their first steps, so why would you let a total stranger have your memories of your kids' accomplishments?

 

Q: This one's for you the reader.

You just bought a brand new car. It's everything you could ever dream of. A stranger knocks on your door. He asks to use your car from 8am-3pm every day. He promises to bring the car back safely each afternoon. Do you allow him to take your car, this new prized possession? Of course you don't. That's crazy. But think about it, this is what we do with our children, OUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSIONS!!!! We cart them off to public school with a complete stranger 5 days a week 8-3 or whatnot and wish them luck. This teacher you maybe talk to 2x a year at parent teacher meeting, and chances are you never meet them before the first day of school. Who is this person? Yes they had to pass some kind of finger printing to get the job they have, but has finger printing ever stopped anyone from doing anything? Then we wonder why we hear about teachers molesting kids or whatnot. (NO, I do not believe all teachers are bad, I am just throwing out examples of what I think.  If you don't like my opinion you're free to stop reading at any moment.) We tell our kids to watch out for stranger danger, then we wave goodbye with a smile as they are now in the hands of the unknown teacher for a year.

Just sounds silly to me?

 

I know that there are people who have to work all day, long hours, to make the money to support the family. This blog post is just why I home school and what my thoughts on this subject are. These are my most asked questions answered for you. None of my answers are to make you feel guilty or accuse you of not doing what's best for your family. This is what is best for my family.  I also want to say that I am USAF wife and we get uprooted more then the average family and this is a good fit for us because we aren't constantly changing schools, my kids get to bring their classmates with them, and we get to enjoy life while sightseeing, on top of learning firsthand about history and science. Home schooling has been a total blessing for us. We get the chance to learn together, grow together, and just be a happy family-oriented family. No waiting for school to let out for summer to take a vacation, no calling the school because someone's sick. We get to do our school work in our PJ's if we want or at the park if the weather's nice. Doctor's appointment, no problem.  We'll do school in the waiting room or after lunch.  Grandma wants to visit ? Sure, why not, we can throw in extra work during the week or make it up Saturday. The real world usually does not follow a 9-5 Mon.-Fri. job unless you actually choose a job that is like that. For most hard working Americans the schedule changes with little to no notice, you have late nights, early mornings, or even no days off for weeks. Home schooled children know how to go with the flow because your dragging them along for real life all the time. They see you every day for the majority of the day and learn through you how to handle things. They are avoiding peer pressure and staying out of trouble because they are supervised and don't have to try to impress anyone. They have friends from all walks of life and can probably tell you a little bit about every subject because you have been letting them watch way too much Discovery or History Channel to get out of reading an actual history book. They can cook and clean because we include chores in our schoolwork and cooking a good substitute for learning about science. They are smarter than you give them credit for because 15 minutes a day of reading turns into hours of reading all about whatever interests them, and homework time means helping take care of the home, because the schoolwork is already done. The older child finds pleasure in teaching the younger child(ren) Which is a nice break when you have a full schedule.

 

Happy Home Schooling if you choose to and if not, thanks for keeping an open mind about it.

We're not crazy hippies (although that looks like a good time), wer'e just parents trying to do the best we can with the knowledge that we have.