I can not really look back at life “before I was a Home Educator.” I have always been a Home Educator. After all, I taught these children to walk, and talk. Why is it any different to be the one who taught them to read and write?
We began officially homeschooling when GeekBoy was due to enter Kindergarten. He had done a brief two year stint in a part-time, church-run preschool, but we just could not afford the full-time Kindergarten class, and there was absolutely no way I could send my son, and his gentle spirit, off to the wolves in public school. That left us with homeschool.
So what do I miss of life “before homeschool”? Well, every once in a great while, when the kids are fighting non-stop and everything seems to be going wrong, I miss the dream. The dream that one day my days would be my own again. The dream of the bright yellow bus that would come and whisk my offspring off to school leaving me free to pursue my design career, or actually get some housework done, or even just go to the bathroom at least once a day without having someone bang on the door wailing, “Mo-o-om!!!” Yes. The dream.
Reality is, public school, or any school for that matter, is not the utopian answer to my dream that my dream makes it out to be. I’ve met families who wind up basically homeschooling their children every night because the schools are not doing what they consider to be a good enough job. Dinner and the short time after wouldn’t be as enjoyable if there were nightly fights about homework, and oh how there would be, I know from my own school experience. Not to mention all the time we would have to spend de-programming the bad “stuff” they would bring home (curse words, propaganda, etc).
When you get right down to it though, I just wouldn’t miss this for the world! The light in GeekBoy’s smile as throughout the day he randomly pops out math facts that have popped in his head, only to discover he is right! The twinkle in thePinkDiva’s eye when she reads a word correctly the first time she tries. BigBoy’s laughter as he discovers a new trick he can do. (IE: stand on one foot, hop, jump from the couch to the pile of pillows without getting hurt, climb the end of his bed and throw himself to the mattress – yea. he’s my fearless one. *S*)
Although we started this journey primarily because we don’t have the money for private school, even if I won a million dollars tomorrow, there is no way I could bear to put these kids into a school, and miss all those moments. The more I’ve learned about home schooling, about my kids, and about myself… The more I feel that this is truly God’s calling for me.
This post brought to you as part of Home Education Week at Principled Discovery. Join the fun!
I think it interesting how many people’s reasons for homeschooling change after starting. At first, it seems a necessity for financial or other problems directly related to school. Then it is the inherent value in home education that keeps us here. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing!