Remember when you told people you wanted to homeschool your children? Maybe it was just yesterday, perhaps 20 years ago, or you may still be considering this radical, counter cultural way to raise children. Of course the first people you tell are often those whose kids are all in school, or they are teachers with "credentials and qualifications" in their area of specialty (which is usually teaching all subjects to many types of kids). When you do tell them, you will usually face at least one of these questions from at least one of these people:
"You're going to do WHAT?"
"Do you have a teaching degree?"
"How do you know what to teach them?"
"How can you properly 'socialize' them?" (I couldn't resist throwing that little bit of insanity in.)
Have you ever wanted or dared to turn the table on them and ask some of these questions:
"What's the vision you have for each individual child you'll have in your class next year? You do have a vision for their lives don't you? I'm sure it takes into account the uniqueness of their gifts and personalities, right?"
"How do you keep them from being 'socialized' while in your institution?"
"How do you assure that the teachers who get them next year understand what you've learned about them this year? How many new teachers will they have anyway?"
"My child isn't interested in anything but airplanes. Do you think you could build a curriculum around that? If you did, I'm sure he would soak up every subject that it touched on."
Now, let's have a reality check. This is not how 99% of schools work. Yes, I made up that statistic, so write me if you have a list that adds up to more than 1% of the schools in America. On a tough day, I may read that list and dream of shipping them to one of those. But really, every year, I answer these questions, ask myself how my kids are turning out, sigh over the days I felt I just couldn't go on and smile about the days my kids did something that amazed me in spite of myself. I remember that my kids are MY kids. Outside of God, no one cares more that they find their passion and gifts early than I do (no offense to dads, but they don't always take this whole endeavor as personally as we mom's do).
When I began homeschooling, I had so much cultural "unlearning" to do. I knew a few homeschoolers who'd inspired me over the years to try this unique and unpopular way of life. But, they were not in my town. As I combed books I finally found a book that completely change my way of understanding mass education, John Taylor Gatto's "Underground History of American Education" (http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/underground/). You can read the entire book online, for free and it's full of facts, falacies about institutionalized education and raw experience that kept me up until the we hours of the morning glaring at the computer screen. Mr. Gatto was a public school teacher of 30 years who wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal entitled, "I Quit, I Think," following which, he resigned.
When people ask me what it's like to homeschool, there are many answers people will give, because there are many ways of doing it. Some people give blissful answers about the joy of togetherness, some look bewildered and wonder how to explain a whole different way of life in 100 words or less, but one of my new answers is, "It's the best parental improvement program around." You will (are forced to) gain patience, wisdom, and suffer injustice (or get a baby sitter once in a while). You may plan great ideas only to be persecuted in the morning (kids don't always know what's best for them). You'll certainly have to do an insane amount of talking and, after a challenging day, you may need to retreat to your room with a snack to reinforce your "vision" with favorite homeschooling author to redirect you passion for your job. But alas, when all seems lost (usually once a month), there are those miracles that bewilder even the most distraught mother. On one of my worst days (once a month), after I'd lost my cool and said things I regretted, my oldest son (age 10) came over to give me a hug, rubbed my arm and said, "You're the best mom in the whole world." I replied shamefully, negatively and tearfully, "Why do you say that?" He smiled, "Because it's true!" -- I do love getting to know my kids and surviving (oops) thriving with them daily.
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