I've decided that next year, I am going to home-school my children.
I'll give that a minute to sink in.
Better now? OK. I used to think this was a good representation of home-schoolers...
But after a lot of research, talking to home-schoolers, and most importantly, getting some experience in the public schools, I don't think that's the case anymore. I'm beginning to believe that homeschooling my children might better prepare them for the challenges of adulthood than letting them go to public school. Here's why...
1)Socialization. I know that's kind of a buzzword for home-schoolers. Everyone asks, "but how are your kids going to be socialized?" or "aren't you worried about socialization?". Well, let me tell you about our experience with socialization. There are 2 girls in my daughter's class that make her life miserable. They call her names, they tell her she can't play with anyone else. She gets off the bus so sad nearly everyday. She asked me the other day, "Mom can you talk to them? I just want them to stop calling me names." She's not emotionally mature enough to deal with this, and honestly, I don't want her to be. She is 5 years old, she should be running around, playing, learning about her world, not being beaten down and trying to figure out someone else's emotional problems. If that's "socialization", thanks, but no thanks. Am I sheltering her? Heck yeah. But that's not a bad thing. Yes, she will have to learn how the world works someday, I can't shelter her forever, but hopefully by then she'll have a bit more emotional maturity and be able to handle it better. And I'll say this, the older kids I've met, who are home-schooled, are some of the most self-confident, mature kids I've ever met. If home-schooling had anything to do with that, I'm willing to try it.
2) Academics. My kids are smart. Really smart. And I'm not just saying that, at 4 years old, Nora was doing 1st grade level work at her private school (it was a Montessori school where every child worked at their own pace). Now, in public school, she's back to learning ABC's and 123's. She's gotten in trouble a couple times because she finishes her work early and wants to talk to her table mates. Unfortunately, in a group, you have to go at the speed of the slowest person. I want my child to be challenged. I want to her think that learning is fun and not boring. That's not happening in her school.
3)The military thing. We're military. We move, a lot. In fact, we're moving in about 6 months. And I'm having the same issue with this move that I've had with all the others. How to I balance living close to the base with finding a good school? I don't know why, but for some reason, really good schools and Air Force Bases don't mix. And if they do, good luck finding a place on Captain salary. When we moved to Ohio, the question was, "where do we want to compromise?". Did we want to compromise school quality, or on distance from the base, or price. Finally we decided to compromise on school quality, we picked the best school district we could, close to the base and a house within our price limits. Why? Because it's been my experience that having Daddy close is worth more than just about anything else. At our next assignment, it's the same thing. Good schools within our price range? Hour commute. But if we homeschool, that's not a problem anymore. We can live close to the base, and not worry about the quality of the schools. Then there's the curriculum. I grew up military, and I remember moving to a base, and being completely lost for the first 6 months because I hadn't learned what they were teaching in my new school. Then we moved, and I was bored for the next 6 months because I had already learned what they were teaching. With homeschooling, that's not an issue for us.
4)Religious Instruction. I hate religion in public schools. I think religion is a private thing, and that everyone's religion is different, so to force one doctrine to be taught (or practiced, ala prayer) in a public school is wrong. But, in a homeschool setting, we can make religious instruction part of school. There are tons of LDS resources out there for homeschoolers. How great is that?!? It's like seminary for 5 year olds. I love that I will have that many more opportunities to teach my children about the gospel. Talk about building on the Rock.
Not that everything about this is all butterflies and rainbows, ribbons and pixie dust. I'm confident this will be the hardest thing I've ever done. And I don't like hard work. Here are my biggest concerns...
1)Am I organized enough to pull this off? I'm a pretty organized lady and, aside from some stroller issues, I do a pretty good job of keeping things running around here. But it comes in spurts. I'll spend 2 days cleaning, getting things all great looking, then lay around for 2 days. I can be MONUMENTALLY lazy. I was always better at the sprint than the marathon. This is definitely a marathon. Which is why we're going to start out with an online charter school. They provide the curriculum, I provide the space and the kids. My hope is, that will help me ease into it. Someone else does the work in the beginning, until I figure things out a bit. If we like it, we'll stick with it. If not, then I can make my own curriculum.
2) We want to have another baby. How do you homeschool with a newborn? And through a pregnancy? Not to mention that what if I get sick? Does school just stop because Mom is throwing up? I'm not sure how to deal with these issues. Is it really so flexible that we just don't have school those days and then work extra hard the next couple days? I don't know. Maybe it's just one of those things we will have to work out.
3) This sounds lame but, my exercise routine. I finally found something that works for me. I go to the gym everyday (almost). It works soooo well. I'm nervous that homeschooling is just going to screw it all up. The problem is, going to the gym is pretty vital for me. I love it. I hate the way I feel when I don't go. If there was one thing that could make me change my mind about homeschooling, this is it. I'm very nervous.
All in all, I think it will be a good thing. A HARD good thing, but still a good thing. Of course, ask me again 3 months into it. :)
