Our Case for Homeschooling - Education

One of the most common things I hear when people learn that we are a homeschooling family is, 'Oh, I dont' think I am smart enough to do that!' If you believe yourself ill equipped for this reason, let me put your mind at ease.

I was a mediocre student. I am a product of how the schooling environment failed, or at the very least, didn't thrive. I had very few teachers who managed to pique my interest and inspire me to seek knowledge on my own and to do the best I could. Very few. I'm not bashing the public school system, There are some incredible teachers out there!! I had four throughout my 13 year stint. I'm just saying there are a lot of folks who go into teaching because they think it's 'easy' and they like having their summers 'off'. Their hearts aren't really in it.

I've spoken with some of those very mindsets, so don't get all offended. It's a simple fact.

I barely went to college. I started college, as expected, in the fall after I graduated high school. I was on a split vocal/instrumental scholarship. I took seven classes my first semester. Seven. Two vocal, two instrumental, one music theory, one math, and one speech. I finished the semester with a 3.98 GPA.

And then I quit. A few years later, I took another couple of classes, but mostly to keep a friend company who was trying to get a few transferable credits. I did okay in both classes, but as soon as I turned in my final exams in those classes, I walked out of conventional college for the rest of the life I have lived.

About the time my friends were graduating college, I finally decided on a course of action. Massage school. I loved so much about that year. It was a type of learning that spoke to me. Very little book instruction, a lot of hands on experience, and no ridiculous fluff classes to 'round out the educational experience'.

So to put all that into layman's terms, I am, as the world would call it, uneducated. I have my own issues with this, but they don't spur me onto completing a 'higher education.'

And yet, I home school my children. And I am not (too terribly) afraid of messing up. Both my six year old and my five year old are reading. They can both identify shapes, colors, numbers, states, and patterns. They could be better with scissors, but I twitch violently when I watch them cut paper. There are crafts and field trips, dance class, and music class. Their writing is pretty good and their memory capacity is amazing.

For now, the challenge is just to keep them interested. To present the material in a way that they can grasp. It will get harder. But if I can just stay a step or so ahead of them, and teach them to utilize the resources around them, they will excel.

Because nobody cares about a child the way a parent does.