Is It Homeschooling?
I'm not sure if what we really do is "homeschooling" or "unschooling". Why do we have to put labels on everything? There is so much that we do that isn't in a text book. I like to get my kids away from their seats and out where life is happening. Why don't people think that's schooling? I understand that my kids need to know the basics of math, spelling, english, science, history, language, etc... But really, when is the last time your boss announced a pop quiz and asked you how to graph quadratic functions and convert logarithms between bases and find inverse relationships between exponents and logarithms?
We decided to homeschool 3 years ago when the private Christian school that my father started was going to be ran by someone other than my father. We also thought at that time that we were going to be moving and I didn't want to take my kids out of one school and put them in another in the middle of the year. Well, as it turned out, we're still here and we're still homeschooling. We will probably always homeschool now. It's our way of life and my kids don't want to go to public school. I ask them every now and then, (just to make sure they are happy homeschooling) and they always say they want to continue to homeschool. My 9 year old son says he can't go to public school because they don't let you pray in school and how could he have lunch? He is very big into praying before every meal, no matter where he is. I love that he thinks like that and I remind him that no one can ever tell you, you can't pray! And even in places where they don't support praying, you can always pray, even with your eyes open.
Homeschooling isn't easy! It's not "taking the easy way out" by any means. I still work - more than the average working person. I work 9-11 hours a day. I'm lucky enough to be able to do what I do from home, and run my own business, but I'm still working. I'm also lucky that my mom is close by to help out. Of course it would be easier if I were married, didn't have to work and could spend all day just teaching my kids, but we manage. I know what we're doing is right for us. Which leads me to another topic of discussion.... why do friends and family think they need to chime in whenever given the opportunity to do so, and tell us what huge mistakes we're making? It used to bother me at first, but now I let it go in one ear and out the other. Actually, no one in my family has ever said anything negative about homeschooling, it's only a few friends of mine who say things. But then I look at them and some don't even have kids and the ones who do, have their own ways of doing things that I don't agree with. I don't usually say anything, but if they want to throw the homeschooling thing in my face, I'll throw their parenting skills in their faces. Cause that's just how we are.
I have nothing prepared for this coming year. I know on August 18th, we are going to "Homeschool Day" at our state fair. But as far as this year's curriculum, I haven't even began to think about it. I did buy a couple lesson planning books. I have their names on them and important dates written in. And we also will be able to go back to our local homeschool co-op every Thursday. We went the year before last and it was great! Last year we couldn't go because of my job and we really missed it. There's just something about being around so many other moms and kids who do what we do. It makes you feel like you're not the only one and there are other people who agree with what you're doing. Then you look at all the other normal, happy, intelligent children and you say "HEY, we're all ok!"
We decided to homeschool 3 years ago when the private Christian school that my father started was going to be ran by someone other than my father. We also thought at that time that we were going to be moving and I didn't want to take my kids out of one school and put them in another in the middle of the year. Well, as it turned out, we're still here and we're still homeschooling. We will probably always homeschool now. It's our way of life and my kids don't want to go to public school. I ask them every now and then, (just to make sure they are happy homeschooling) and they always say they want to continue to homeschool. My 9 year old son says he can't go to public school because they don't let you pray in school and how could he have lunch? He is very big into praying before every meal, no matter where he is. I love that he thinks like that and I remind him that no one can ever tell you, you can't pray! And even in places where they don't support praying, you can always pray, even with your eyes open.
Homeschooling isn't easy! It's not "taking the easy way out" by any means. I still work - more than the average working person. I work 9-11 hours a day. I'm lucky enough to be able to do what I do from home, and run my own business, but I'm still working. I'm also lucky that my mom is close by to help out. Of course it would be easier if I were married, didn't have to work and could spend all day just teaching my kids, but we manage. I know what we're doing is right for us. Which leads me to another topic of discussion.... why do friends and family think they need to chime in whenever given the opportunity to do so, and tell us what huge mistakes we're making? It used to bother me at first, but now I let it go in one ear and out the other. Actually, no one in my family has ever said anything negative about homeschooling, it's only a few friends of mine who say things. But then I look at them and some don't even have kids and the ones who do, have their own ways of doing things that I don't agree with. I don't usually say anything, but if they want to throw the homeschooling thing in my face, I'll throw their parenting skills in their faces. Cause that's just how we are.
I have nothing prepared for this coming year. I know on August 18th, we are going to "Homeschool Day" at our state fair. But as far as this year's curriculum, I haven't even began to think about it. I did buy a couple lesson planning books. I have their names on them and important dates written in. And we also will be able to go back to our local homeschool co-op every Thursday. We went the year before last and it was great! Last year we couldn't go because of my job and we really missed it. There's just something about being around so many other moms and kids who do what we do. It makes you feel like you're not the only one and there are other people who agree with what you're doing. Then you look at all the other normal, happy, intelligent children and you say "HEY, we're all ok!"
posted by Mama T at
1:00 PM
