Why have we decided to Home School?
My kids will be allowed and encouraged to participate in social activities, sports, birthday parties etc. BUT the commonality and camaraderie build between friends because they are in the same exact situation every day will not be there. For someone who has never moved, who went through their entire school career with the same people, who fit in perfectly with their peers throughout school, who still is today "besties" with those grade school friends; this one CON could be the breaking point, because it would be unfathomable to miss out on that. My situation, not uncommon at all, was that my family moved when I was in 8th grade. I was removed from my group of friends and thrust into a new school with all new people...and I thrived. I am still friends with people I went to high school with, but not any grade school friends. So even though I didn't even meet any of those people until after my grade school years were over--it didn't ruin me. My husband went through the same school his entire life, had his cliche of friends, but does not keep in touch with anyone he went to school with on a regular basis--he made friends with people he works with. Two different situations, giving us a different perspective, let us come to the decision that it will not hurt the kids to lack that camaraderie now (as young elementary students) because there will be plenty of opportunity for that to form later.
It is a lot of work for the home school parent/teacher. I'm not going to lie I have spend countless hours researching, pinning, printing (I must buy a laser printer asap!), stressing, organizing, buying, stressing, organizing, pinning, researching, stressing, researching, organizing....you get the idea! I sincerely hope that once we get established then it will be just a matter of record keeping and teaching-but I doubt it. I have actually come to like all the researching. I like finding new things for the kids to do. There are curricula available that is easy to use and an all in one deal. Set the kids up on the computer and let them do their work and print out the reports when they are done. That may and will probably be something we do when they get older, but for now I enjoy printing worksheets and doing new activities with them. So yes it is work, but I enjoy it so I don't mind!
So why are we homeschooling? What made us consider it to begin with? Negative peer influence and common core standards were big reasons. Do I want my 6 year old to think it is hilarious to flip the bird, bully other kids, disrespect adults, and be rude all for the sake of a laugh--absolutely not. It is common kid behavior now that some parents seem to laugh off. We want to give our kids a good foundation or morals and values before entrusting their peers to teach them what is expected and tolerated in society. If that means my kids won't be "normal" so be it, but they will be respectful when they are older! Common Core is a long lengthy subject that I encourage everyone to research on their own. In a nutshell it is a set of common standards that push young students to learn and understand concepts, sometimes, beyond what their brains should be able to understand. Some kids thrive and some kids fall behind. Soooo many tests to compare and compete. Well, what if you child isn't a great test taker; is a better auditory or kinesthetic learner, and not good with written work? The public school system is set to one way and doesn't have the resources to encourage other types of learning styles. We aren't all office workers, we don't all work the same way, and common core has been made to fit everyone into the same box.
For those that were interested that is why we decided to do it. If you are considering it at all I strongly encourage you to look at you child. How are they doing, what are their peers like, are they thriving or struggling, do you think you can do better for YOUR child than a flawed public school system? My answer was YES so we made the jump!
I was a little nervous to break the news to family and friends. The only other home school family I know of in our community is a religious one. Our reasons weren't religious in nature, just personal, so we are going to be lone ducks. I was afraid to be looked at with contempt from friends. I was afraid people would think that I thought I was better than them, because I didn't trust the school system like they all do every day. That is not at all what I think, and I sincerely hope they don't either. I understand home school is a serious, hard decision, and it is absolutely not for everyone. I can only hope they know that I want my kids to still be friends with their kids. I want to get together for play time, cookouts, birthday parties, and group activities. I am not shunning them and I hope we aren't shunned for choosing a different path for our kids and family. We are all just trying to raise our kids!
I was nervous about telling our family. I knew, because our families are awesome, that they would not lash out, but have legitimate concerns (just like we did during our initial thoughts). I said I researched right? So.....Here is a presentation I created to show our parents as we were telling them about our decision to homeschool: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17lUYufBzWJmEQj0vNkNLiHarlqoJDuShquWxJxD3bSg/pub?start=true&loop=false&delayms=60000
They were awesome--just like I expected! They gave us their support, and offered assistance whenever and however we need them. We are blessed.
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