Parents always seem so relieved and even quite enthused when
it’s time for their kids to begin a new school year. And it hardly ever has
anything to do with looking forward to the education experiences that will be
provided for their children or the new skills that may be learned through those
experiences. It almost always has to do with getting the kids out of the house
each day so parents can have more time for other things or some similar line of
thought.
I cannot identify at all with the general feeling held and
displayed by many parents this time of year. I see no benefit in being
separated from my children for the major portion of every weekday for months on
end, having strangers teach them and look after their needs each day with
little care for their special interests or concerns, having no control over the
subject material they cover or the learning techniques they use or the regular
influences of their daily environment, and missing out on all their major
learning advances.
Why do I choose to homeschool, or rather, educate my
children from home?
This is something I have been asked several times before.
My reasons for homeschooling are many.
In brief, they include:
- ·
personal
experience with public education
- ·
observation of those close to me throughout my
life within the school system
- ·
having a child
with special health concerns
- ·
not wanting
to vaccinate
- ·
not wanting
to be a part of any compulsory system in relation to being a parent
- ·
not having
first control over the situations and environments that affect my children's
learning
- ·
not trusting
that the system has my children's best interests in mind
- ·
not trusting
that my children will be cared for or protected
- ·
not agreeing
with the common structures and ideals of the system
- ·
wanting my
children to have a holistic educational experience
- ·
wanting them
to learn through cooperation rather than competition
- ·
having a
different idea about what type of socialization experiences are required for
healthy and well rounded personality and emotional development
- ·
not wanting
my kids subjected to religious attitudes and teachings that are prevalent in
many areas
- ·
having a
different idea of what subjects should be taught to them and in what way
- ·
having a different idea about how much time
should be spent inside a classroom setting rather than in real world settings
·
·
My decision has
nothing to do with laziness (as has been suggested by some homeschool critics,
I have heard). The research, preparation, and general effort that goes into
ensuring my children experience the type of education and life learning that I
believe they would most benefit from indicates something in great contrast to
laziness.
And money is certainly
not a deciding factor. Many people assume that if you are able to homeschool
then you must be in a well off financial position. It’s true that it is not
always easy or cheap to provide the things we want in our at home educational
environment and since we are not frequently in the greatest financial shape there
often is not enough money to do things exactly as we would prefer. Therefore we
must often adjust our plan to better suit our finances...we make the extra
effort because we know it is best to do so for our family.
To be clear, I
certainly don't fit into any mainstream homeschooling group or label. For
instance, many people that homeschool do so for religious reasons; to put a
greater emphasis on religiously based curriculum/teachings. One of the reasons,
as previously stated, that we homeschool is to keep our children away from
strong religious leanings in their social and academic experiences.
