The Questions Begin

I was talking to a friend today, from my kid's school, who knows I'm taking my kids out of their school at the end of this year. She asked me what my plan was for the next school year and when I told her "Home School!" the questions began! This was my first time to be "under fire" for my decision but I felt like I had some good answers for her.

Question #1: "Math is hard, I could never teach that, how are you going to keep up with what they are learning and be able to teach that?"

My Answer: I know math is hard! And to make it worse, I HATE MATH! I'm really not looking forward to teaching it. BUT, I've found so many options, online curriculum, one day schools, comprehensive teacher guides, that make it a possibility. This question didn't bother me so much because it was one of my main obstacles to consider in home schooling also.

Question #2: "What about socialization?"

My Answer: Again, this was a big issue for me also, my daughter is a social butterfly and honestly I'm concerned about my ear drums because I know she will talk them off, ALL.DAY.LONG! But, I am looking at their current situation for socialization, Regan tells me that someone in her class told her all about S-E-X (and yes, she spelled it). A boy chases her around the playground wanting to "make sexy" and kiss her. A girl, whose father owns a strip club, is always trying to scare Regan by telling her a bunch of ghost stories, many of which have her coming to our bed in the middle of the night.

Riley on the other hand, alternates between victim and bully, according to his teacher. He tells the teacher when a kid hits him, and she tells him to ignore it, so when the kid repeatedly hits him, and he finally hits back, he gets ISS and a referral. The kids in his class are either way behind, make fun of him for being the smallest in the class, or use one hand to hold their pants up. Again, not the environment I want my kids learning socialization.

We are a Christian, God-fearing family. I want my kids to learn how to respect each other, and other people, no matter who they are or what they believe. I don't think they learn that in a school with other kids being mean and hateful and following the pack mentality. I am looking forward to home school mainly for this reason, to instill in them some Godly character, to expect more from them than the school does. To hold them to a higher standard than they've been held to, and for them to learn to love and serve others, no matter their differences. How is that a bad thing?

Question #3: "What about a schedule? I think kids need to learn how to be on a schedule!"

My Answer: I intend of having a schedule! In this technological age, there are so many jobs that aren't 9-5, my husband has one of them. He works for the state and works from home a lot of the time. Not that he sleeps in and works whenever, but there is a tremendous amount of flexibility in his schedule. I plan on getting up in the morning (not as early as before, because my kids are like me, NOT morning people, and I'm tired of the fighting, hateful words that early in the morning!) but we will still be up early-ish, dressed, and they can learn about doing their chores before they start school, something they don't have time for now. They can get all their school work done in a much shorter time frame than in regular school, and still have time for study trips or sports activities.

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that public schools and prisons are run very much the same way? I don't want my kids incarcerated for the next 8-10 years!

So, those are my answers, for what it's worth. I know everyone home schools for different reasons, and mine may be different than someone elses. But, I'm doing what I feel is best for MY kids at this time. Next year might be another story, but we're taking this one year at a time, I have a feeling sometimes it will be one day at a time!