Why I decided to homeschool?
First of all, I had issues in the public school system. I graduated at the top 10% of my high school class, then why upon completing my first semester of college did I fail Organic Chemistry? I had all A's in the rest of my classes but for some reason I couldn't get my brain to think "organically". I didn't have kids then, but I was so disappointed in my public education that (after I failed organic chem twice more) I decided that I would teach my own children at home, well...when I had them:)
When my husband and I got married, we were fresh out of college & an awry of things opened my sheltered eyes to an ugly world. My first "real world" job was to help victims of domestic violence write up and defend protective orders against their perpetrators. It was awful! Completely and horribly awful, I was witness to children being abused by their parents, parents being abused by each other and children being bullied by peers. On the other side of my world, my husband had started teaching bilingual education at a local elementary school. We had no children yet, but I attended every school function in support of my husband. I learned a lot about public school...a lot. My husband is awesome but he wasn't so organized, he was literally thrown into a class room with no real direction. He was given this little sheet of paper with what his classroom should look like but that was about it. Silly me, this whole time I thought that teachers were equipped with atleast a list of things that their students should know by the end of the year. Sure, there were district wide websites and lists can be found online but the school itself provided no guidance at all. While, I was upset with the school, I was amazed at how these teachers, who get paid in pennies, dedicated so much of their own time to really teach a child.
Over the years and after having two of our three babies, my husband showed signs of exhaustion and frustration. He was not a happy camper at the end of his work day. Testing every spring was a huge ordeal and all this pressure is placed upon the teachers and these poor children. Promises of field trips, pizza parties and movie days filled these little hearts and most of the time they weren't fulfilled if you failed your tests and teachers were placed on the chopping block.
Meanwhile, I had taken a job "helping" children in which we would go to public schools around our district and preform a little skit exhibiting bullying and "good & bad" touching. After we'd discuss this awful topic in their classrooms the children had the opportunity to discuss anything with myself (the counselor). Too many times, I had these precious kiddos ask if his family member's touch was a good touch (they usually weren't) or why their friends at school would call them names and push them everyday. A few of those cases were so horrible, I have a hard time forgetting the details. Bullying is a huge issue. Nationally, it has caused children to contemplate and commit suicide.
I knew that my Trysten would be school aged soon and I was either going to war with my own one (wo)man army or I'd come to terms with sending my child off into a beautifully cruel world. I just let it all sink in, it festered and brewed in my heart.
It was definitely extremely hard, for the first three years of T's education, I taught him alone, my husband thought I was nuts, my parents thought I was nuts, and my world was crashing. After all, who homeschools when one of their parents is a public school teacher?!
It all changed when my husband was laid off from a charter school (he was the last one hired first one fired when budget cuts were demanded...2 days before Christmas). He took it upon himself to "test" my 6 & 4 year olds. He was AHHH-Mazed. I'm clearly not a teacher. I am not patient with my own kids. I'm not anything special yet my 6 year old was reading chapter books by the minute and working on multiplication & my 4 year old was reading 3-4 books per day and excelling in beginning mathematics. My husband was speechless, surprised and speechless. Now he is just as motivated to teach our kiddos at home:) In terms of my parents, they express amazement every time my children read to them.
Hmmmm maybe homeschooling does work and I'm not a crazy overgrown hippy...well...the point is that it does not matter why you homeschool or what pushed you in this direction, but it does matter that you know that you can swim against the current and succeed! It's an exhausting but rewarding task!
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