So as many of you know I have a dirty little secret: I'm going to be homeschooling my kids this year. Why do I feel like it is my dirty little secret? Well for starters, there is a stereotype, that homeschool kids are weird. And after plenty of observation I would have to agree. There are a lot of homeschool weirdo's. A lot of parents homeschool for extreme reasons. Like they are wacko Christians or political nut jobs. BUT, as I like to remind myself (and as our favorite teacher from NPA told me as encouragement), the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Wacky parents have wacky children, no matter where their children are educated (although I think some extremists' children could benefit from some main stream exposure). In fact I have met some very well adjusted normal families who homeschool. This is fairly reassuring to me. There are definitely a lot of families that do not fit the homeschool mold and I hope we will be one of them.
Second of all I suffer from a horrible case of FOMO (fear of missing out). I don't like to miss out on good stuff. If I hear that you went and did something fun with a mutual friend my fomo will rear it's ugly head. And so, as kids go back to school, I fear my poor kids will be missing out, because lets face it, school is pretty awesome. I always liked it (with the exception of middle school. That was Hell). We have had a wonderful experience with school up to now. Great teachers, good interactions with peers, field trips, recess, and just the great day to day interactions that come with going to school. However, it appears that there are so many activities for homeschoolers here in Virginia that our biggest trouble is going to be narrowing down what to do and who to do them with. For some reason Virginia has a thriving homeschool community. There are co-ops, clubs, sports, choirs, plays, and activities a plenty to pick from. So hopefully my fomo can lie dormant when I see kids walking to the bus stop and we are packing our car for a week in NYC, or getting ready for a ski trip to Utah. But part of me still can't help feeling like I am depriving my children of something important. Hopefully I will be able to conquer my fomo.
But, fomo and all, I am going to give it a try. Why? First, so we can travel. With Rob's time off we would be very constrained with the kids in school. We can't pull our kids out of school all the time, and I hate to be tied down to a schedule. When Rob has time off we want to go. So that is the primary motivation.
There are several other reasons (like I have a strong opinion about what they should be learning and sometimes feel like public schools are falling short) but the main one is because it felt like the right thing to do. I'll be honest, I am one of those people who isn't sure if it is the Spirit or me influencing me. I don't know when it is inspiration and when it is just me having an idea. Frankly every time I go on a trip I am pretty sure the Spirit is telling me my plane is going to crash, but so far it has just been me being neurotic. But in this case,as far as I can tell, this feels like the right thing to do. So for now I will give it a go. And if it isn't working out, never you fear, I will haul their little booties right on over to our local public school and enroll them.
And for the record, these are NOT reasons I am homeschooling (all reasons I have heard):
I believe the prophet Joseph Smith wanted me to educate my children at home.
The constitution is hanging by a thread and I must raise up a righteous generation who will defend it with their honor and blood.
They must be sheltered from all outside influences.
These are the MOST EVIL of times and so I will combat the rampant evil by teaching my children at home.
My kids can learn by osmosis and shouldn't be forced to learn in a conventional way about conventional things.
I'd rather they learned to cook and do laundry than algebra. It is just more practical.
So there it is, my dirty little secret. My name is Anna and I homeschool. Yikes!
18 comments:
It sounds like your area is a perfect place to homeschool with all those activities and clubs. I find I get anxious with the kids when we hit that point (and it sounds like this is where you are) that they are doing something I didn't do and I feel like I have no roadmap. I usually find that it all turns out fine in the end. I think you will be a great teacher for your kids and I am excited to hear about your adventures.
oh my gosh anna!! i am going to homeschool, too and have also felt reticent about telling just anybody - like its something to hide. :) i've been toying with the idea ever since i first started thinking about my kids going to school, but over the last few months i've read some great resources that have made me very passionate about it and like you, i really feel like it is the right thing to do for my kids. (although i laughed pretty hard at the whole spirit and getting on a plane thing - that is totally me. glad i'm not the only one!)
a co-op is my dream - that is very cool that you have great resources out there! i'm so excited for you! you already do so many great, creative things with your kids (just various things i've read about on your blog over the last couple of years) that i'm sure you will be absolutely terrific! there are crazy homeschooled kids, but there are also crazy publicly educated kids, too! there are plenty of normal, thriving, great products of homeschool out there.
i don't know if you've ever read/heard about the "pioneer woman" blog, but she has a homeschooling section on her blog. and while, i don't think it's the greatest overall resource in the world (some of the things she posts are just plain useless), there are some really fantastic things she posts about why to homeschool (on those days when you need a little morale boost), she clears up/addresses common misconceptions about homeschooling, ideas for how to homeschool, questions and answers from moms who homeschool, etc. you should check it out (there's a link on my blog) - but you'll have to browse around a bit to find the good stuff.
also, since you have such great resources out there, you probably already have all this in the bag, but here is the link to the home school legal defense association: http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp - this gives you a jumping off point to find out about the legal requirements in your states/how to start the process.
i'm really, really interested to hear all about what you do this year - what curriculum you use, what a typical day is like, do you take the summers off or homeschool all year round (taking breaks whenever you want to) etc, etc. ALL about it! we're doing little pre-school like things at home now, but i still have another year or so before we hit it really hard.
woot for homeschooling!
oh, and those wacko reasons to homeschool that you mentioned at the end are crazy! joseph smith said whaaatt?? :) it's definitely true that some people home school for the wrong reasons. :)
i posted too soon. :)
i was going to say that i'm attracted to homeschooling because of the flexibilty, also. i think it's great that you can plan school around important family things and that so much instructional time doesn't have to be wasted. if it takes you three hours to do what is normally done in school in six hours - so much the better! plus, one of the biggest benefits i see is that you can individually tailor things to the way each child learns best - as a parent, you know your children best! i think there are a lot of great teachers out there, but that overall, the public school system falls short and has some major failings. how is even a great teacher supposed to get much done when they have 25-35 different kids to teach, plus deal with discipline problems, etc.?
another thing that makes me excited about homeschooling is that you can get out into the real world and see things, have hands on experience, etc.
i've also heard from people who homeschool that even though there are challenging days, their kids are really close and that they feel like their bond with their children is stronger from the time they get to spend together learning and that they feel like the love in their family has increased.
again, woot for homeschooling! :)
Good luck Anna!!
I thought maybe your FOMO was linked to the li'l darlin's learning and experiencing new things. Now you'll be there with them in their "aha" moments. This should be a great experience for you all. And my selfish side thinks it's nice that the kids won't be having to go to school while we're visiting.
I thought you were homeschooling so you could continue the curriculum from NPA. Did you say that and I missed it.
I will be interested to follow your progress.
D.
oooh, it's a good dirty secret. way to go, anna. i think you are amazing for doing this and will do a great job. and yes, you have to do what you feel is right for your kids. please let us know how it all goes as i am very interested to see how it all works out in a "normal" family. :)
the spirit has told me multiple times that my plane/car will crash too. somehow, i'm still here. :) ah ha, i loved that.
and briana, i had no idea you were definitely homeschooling! yowza!
that picture is perfect for this post. HA. as are all the stereotypical reasons to homeschool. you are one funny lady!
my name is Maren and I support your dirty little secret!
So is fomo like bogo? Sounds like you have all kinds of fun stuff planned. What a great place to start homeschooling.
I loved my two years! You have great kids, I think it will be a good experience for everyone!
I'm excited for you! You will be great. And when you're on vacation in February, I will be JEALOUS!!
I think it takes courage to home school. Also I think moms who are good at it and really enjoy it could have been excellent education majors and then teaching as a career. That is not me unfortunately. I blow it everytime I try to help with homework. Good Luck!
Good luck with everything! I like the FLDS picture that you posted.
Wow! I'm excited for you guys! I agree that there are weirdos everywhere, it doesn't matter where you look. I have a major case of fomo too! I'm going to have to borrow that. I will also be super jealous of your flexible schedule, I HATE being tied down to school scheduling (one reason why I miss the track schedule). However I have no patience. If I want my kids to love me forever I will have to stick to sending them off each morning. You'll have to post all the fun things you do! Good luck!
You go girl! If anyone can do it - you can! It sounds like you have a ton of resources but my cousin homeschooled her kids and she is a strong proponent. She would be a weatlh of information. Let me know if you want her email.
Good luck, Anna! I'm sure you'll do a great job, as you do with everything you do. I think your reasons are wonderful, and I know you'll provide your kids with a most enriching environment.
If we'd stayed in Colorado, I would have seriously considered home schooling. The reasons were different, of course . . . I'd like to have had your reasons by my reasons!
I've also run into some of those who give homeschooling a bad name (often, in their efforts to give public schools a bad name). One young mother was recently ranting about the local schools and--as one who works in one of them--I wanted to ask her if she'd actually ever been inside one! Anyway, I'm glad your reasons aren't based on superstition or paranoia!
Good luck! I'm sure it will be a great experience.
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