It got me thinking. Why would I homeschool? Why would I decide to educate my three precious girls at home. Why would I want something so different for them than what I had growing up?
Here are just some of my thoughts.
I was in many ways so blessed as a child, because the children I went to preschool with I graduated high school with. I was a Madisonville Mustang from the beginning. We bleed red, white, and blue in that small town.
It was very comfortable. My mother was a teacher and knew all my teachers. In a small town, no one was really a stranger. In fact, I couldn't even ride to the drug store to buy candy on my bike without someone calling my mom to tell her I wasn't obeying all the traffic laws. Honest!! :) After school, I got on the bus and road to the highschool where my mom worked. My aunt was a teacher at the middle school. My uncle was on the school board. I had cousins in the grades with me, above me, and below me. My grandmother lived three blocks from the junior and senior high school. That was my educational background.
Now, I want to consider my oldest daughters' education. By the time she was 2, we made our first move. She hardly noticed. By the time she was 5 we made our second move. The events surrounding her Kindergarten year were this: I had her sister August 3rd. She turned 5 August 12th and started school August 15th. We had only been in O'Fallon, Illinois for a month and a half. We are now expecting our third move when she turns 7. Just when you feel that you really know the area, have friends, a great church, understand how things go...the Air Force moves you.
I went to my husband's bosses' house for a party. On the wall hung a plague, "Home is where the Air Force sends us." Such a cute saying...UNTIL, you see literally 12 different locations hanging underneath. Some places they only lived there for a year, when he was doing a school of some sort. On the locations where they had babies, they put a star...three different locations...three different stars. Travis' boss is what they call a "Fast Track" guy. Basically, his career is moving fast. He is great at his job and the Air Force rewards him with higher ranks (Full Bird Colonel currently) and more responsiblity...i.e. more moves.
This incredible assignment Travis just got...put him on the "Fast Track" career. O' yes, two year assignments will most likely be the norm now. So I ask myself, why homeschool? Here is why... and of course please understand I cast no judgement on anyone else who doesn't homeschool. We aren't even for sure at this point if we are going to...I'm just weighing the pros and cons. Here are the pros, especially considering this particular assignment.
1. Huge flexibility...Flexibility to go on field trips, explore, get outside the classroom as a family (which the D.C. area is not lacking of). Flexibility concerning time. Most days you can accomplish what a normal school's curriculum consist of in 1/2 the time...leaving enormous amounts of time for other interest. Flexibility to begin school when you wish...do year round perhaps, but less intense, vacations when they are most convenient for you.
2. Family bonds...Only in a school setting do you see yourself with 22 other peers. Work after college isn't like that, families aren't like that, churches aren't like that, communities aren't like that. So why does it seem so normal. In a family, similar to a job, you have different ages, different gifts, different skill levels, different interests. When siblings learn to work things out, empathy is learned. When work is rewarded...ethics is learned. When individual interest are promoted and encouraged...future jobs are determined. I love the way one woman described, "I have come to believe that the primary focus, especially in the early elementary grades, should be on character development. No amount of knowledge can make up for deficiencies in character...Diligence, cheerful obedience, persistence in the face of difficulty, follow-through, and a general delight in a job well done will carry your child far in any career he may choose. " Obviously, many children could be described like this who attend public/private schools. However, in my experience...it was mainly the parents who made all the difference, good or bad. As a parent, does the current school system with all the many wonderful extra-curricular activities they can be involved in, give YOU, the parent, enough time to develop those character traits in your child? For me, the idea of being uprooted every two or three years, makes me want to give my girls everything I've got. I can't afford to spend the numerous hours it takes to find the best school districts, the best churches, the best neighborhoods...best, best, best...every two years. I can't do it. :) So I began prayerfully considering the stability I could offer them at home.
3. Pinpointing your child's strengths and weaknesses...Even with the idea of homeschooling on my mind, I've started getting resources and working with the girls. Mollie, who naturally leans more towards reading, knows all her letters and sounds and is reading short words. Carlie, my social butterfly, struggles more...though this year I've seen her make huge strides. Carlie is naturally more apt at writing, creativity, and thinking analytically. She is my problem solver. Since I have a teaching certificate and taught for a few years, I was trained to teach 25 students, all seating down nicely at their desk, ready and willing to learn what I found interesting or what the state of Texas thought was appropriate for them. Sounds perfect, right? Cookie cutter almost...Until you realize some of your students didn't eat breakfast this morning, some missed key building blocks along the way and have no idea what you are talking about, some simply don't care, some are busy preparing for their favorite subject which isn't your class, and so on and so on.
So I'm retraining myself, how do you help this one child? How do you not drill and kill her to death with subjects she is great at? How do you push her to go beyond acceptable in those subjects she struggles with? What do you expose her to...great literature, science in real life, God's hand throughout history, etc.? How do you do it with three? It isn't easy. Teaching 30 fifth graders seems a lot less intimidating then being solely responsible for my three. I've got to live with the results. If I'm lazy it shows. If I'm tired, it shows. If I'm unprepared, it shows. Have no doubt, there will be days when I want to put them on a school bus and say "Good-bye"...see you in 7 hours.
4. Financially it is more feasible...Travis and I want a Christian education for our girls. In D.C. it cost approximately $9000/child...no kidding. You can do it yourself (homeschool)...or you can pay incredibly high taxes and get into good school districts that do it for you. If I could work at ACU and my children attend a Christian school for a fraction of the cost, I'd be all over it. Who is going to hire someone for only two years, though?
---Unfortunately, I've got to go pick up Carlie from school, but I could go on and on. There are several cons though with homeschooling. Anyone willing to help me think of those...and not just that "Dorothy is a bad teacher." ;) Serious ones.
