I have realized that most of my family had no idea I was planning on homeschooling starting in August. Since I have made my decision I have been receiving mixed reactions. Strangers think I am weird and instantly tell me my kids are going to have "socialization issues". (So rude by the way.) My friends express admiration and ask if I can homeschool their kids too, and my family is worried for my mental health and the general safety for my children.
Here are a few reasons why I have decided to homeschool:
1. I began to notice my children disliking school and learning in general. It hits around 2nd grade. Around the time when children are required to sit for longer periods of time and are required to keep quiet so as not to disturb a teacher that needs to teach 25+ children a subject that they are "required" to learn at this age. In homeschool, I will be able to teach my children about things they are passionate about. I hope that they will LOVE to learn! The lessons will be short (each lesson no more than 20-30 minutes per subject) and we will be striving for QUALITY not QUANTITY. We'll do every cursive letter perfect and beautiful and then get to put it away. Not do sheets of practice that make both of us cry and wonder why we have to spend an hour on it only to have a teacher write on the page how sloppy it is.
2. In Public School children need to all work at the same pace so no other children get "left behind". If a child starts to get left behind, they cannot receive the kind of individualized attention they need for something they struggle with. Homeschooling can let them learn at the level of their brain, and not require them to learn at their "age level". All children are different...so what if a child doesn't learn to read when they are 5 years old and they are 8 instead. They will STILL KNOW HOW TO READ and will have learned when their brain is ready. I could go on and on about this....
3. HOMEWORK...pretty self-explanatory. In the 4th grade my son was going to school for 6 hours and then coming home with 1 1/2 hours worth of homework. What the heck am I sending him to school for?? He's 9 years old, not earning his college degree! With homeschooling, because of the individualized instruction, until high school we can be done with school by the time lunchtime comes around with no "homework". How awesome is that?? However, because the child will love learning so much, they will probably choose to spend some of their free time learning about things that interest them.
4. Teachers spend more time with my children than I do. The time that I do spend with my children involves me yelling at them to hurry up and get ready so we can get out the door, hurry up and finish their homework, hurry up and get ready for bed.....not a lot of quality time there. I want to reconnect as a family and learn to love my children and truly know them.
5. They can learn without a politically correct agenda in mind. We can say a prayer and read some scripture before starting our subjects. We can learn about christian morals and values without having to be careful about who we are going to offend. An atheist psycho dad cannot get the courts to tell us that we can't say "under God" or sing "Silent Night" at Christmas time, and we never have to say "Happy Holidays."
I could go on and on with this, but just know that I have wanted to do this since Payton hit the 3rd grade but did not have the "guts". I do worry about my sanity, and my abilities to teach my children, but I have decided that if I trust in the Lord that all will be ok. How many of my kids teachers said a prayer before teaching my children that they would teach them effectively?? I'm guessing none of them :) So, with the Lord on my side...they are going to be ok. I may also decide it's too hard and put them back in school by next year. This is ok too. Although my reasons show that I am unhappy with Public School, there are a lot of good things about it (I'll write about my views on socialization another day), and I do not judge anyone who chooses to have their children in Public School. If I do put them back in school, I will change the way I choose to spend my time with them, and never allow them to have a 2nd rate teacher. I spent a lot of time trying to make a certain ADHD child exactly what the school system needed him to be. I called and cried to my mom a lot! I hope that with homeschooling, I can just let him be exactly who he is, and not try to alter the creative, sweet, loving, enthusiastic, energetic boy that he is!
I will need a lot of support as I tackle this endeavor. Shalene and Amber, we will be doing a fieldtrip to RT and seeing how pizzas are made. Terry and Dean, love to learn all about creating and running your own business. Alisha, some hairstyling lessons to me and my girls would be appreciated. Brandon and Scott, Physical fitness and how to intimidate?? Candra, how to kick butt and take names and still look cute doing it. Deb is doing a few science lessons, Mom can help in baking and gardening and teach them how to make a mess and not let it bug them (I will be attending that class too.) Wayne and Jason will be in charge of Outdoorsy stuff and keeping alive the tradition of using terms like "It only got hit in the head by that car. That's perfectly good meat, load it up!"
Here are a few reasons why I have decided to homeschool:
1. I began to notice my children disliking school and learning in general. It hits around 2nd grade. Around the time when children are required to sit for longer periods of time and are required to keep quiet so as not to disturb a teacher that needs to teach 25+ children a subject that they are "required" to learn at this age. In homeschool, I will be able to teach my children about things they are passionate about. I hope that they will LOVE to learn! The lessons will be short (each lesson no more than 20-30 minutes per subject) and we will be striving for QUALITY not QUANTITY. We'll do every cursive letter perfect and beautiful and then get to put it away. Not do sheets of practice that make both of us cry and wonder why we have to spend an hour on it only to have a teacher write on the page how sloppy it is.
2. In Public School children need to all work at the same pace so no other children get "left behind". If a child starts to get left behind, they cannot receive the kind of individualized attention they need for something they struggle with. Homeschooling can let them learn at the level of their brain, and not require them to learn at their "age level". All children are different...so what if a child doesn't learn to read when they are 5 years old and they are 8 instead. They will STILL KNOW HOW TO READ and will have learned when their brain is ready. I could go on and on about this....
3. HOMEWORK...pretty self-explanatory. In the 4th grade my son was going to school for 6 hours and then coming home with 1 1/2 hours worth of homework. What the heck am I sending him to school for?? He's 9 years old, not earning his college degree! With homeschooling, because of the individualized instruction, until high school we can be done with school by the time lunchtime comes around with no "homework". How awesome is that?? However, because the child will love learning so much, they will probably choose to spend some of their free time learning about things that interest them.
4. Teachers spend more time with my children than I do. The time that I do spend with my children involves me yelling at them to hurry up and get ready so we can get out the door, hurry up and finish their homework, hurry up and get ready for bed.....not a lot of quality time there. I want to reconnect as a family and learn to love my children and truly know them.
5. They can learn without a politically correct agenda in mind. We can say a prayer and read some scripture before starting our subjects. We can learn about christian morals and values without having to be careful about who we are going to offend. An atheist psycho dad cannot get the courts to tell us that we can't say "under God" or sing "Silent Night" at Christmas time, and we never have to say "Happy Holidays."
I could go on and on with this, but just know that I have wanted to do this since Payton hit the 3rd grade but did not have the "guts". I do worry about my sanity, and my abilities to teach my children, but I have decided that if I trust in the Lord that all will be ok. How many of my kids teachers said a prayer before teaching my children that they would teach them effectively?? I'm guessing none of them :) So, with the Lord on my side...they are going to be ok. I may also decide it's too hard and put them back in school by next year. This is ok too. Although my reasons show that I am unhappy with Public School, there are a lot of good things about it (I'll write about my views on socialization another day), and I do not judge anyone who chooses to have their children in Public School. If I do put them back in school, I will change the way I choose to spend my time with them, and never allow them to have a 2nd rate teacher. I spent a lot of time trying to make a certain ADHD child exactly what the school system needed him to be. I called and cried to my mom a lot! I hope that with homeschooling, I can just let him be exactly who he is, and not try to alter the creative, sweet, loving, enthusiastic, energetic boy that he is!
I will need a lot of support as I tackle this endeavor. Shalene and Amber, we will be doing a fieldtrip to RT and seeing how pizzas are made. Terry and Dean, love to learn all about creating and running your own business. Alisha, some hairstyling lessons to me and my girls would be appreciated. Brandon and Scott, Physical fitness and how to intimidate?? Candra, how to kick butt and take names and still look cute doing it. Deb is doing a few science lessons, Mom can help in baking and gardening and teach them how to make a mess and not let it bug them (I will be attending that class too.) Wayne and Jason will be in charge of Outdoorsy stuff and keeping alive the tradition of using terms like "It only got hit in the head by that car. That's perfectly good meat, load it up!"
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