I'm the last person you'd expect to homeschool. I am a "success story" of public education. I graduated from a public high school in the top 2% of my class. After graduating from college, I became a 3rd generation public school teacher. I was a firm believer in public education and public schools; however, I found myself questioning the system once I found myself in the classroom.
Why were students only exposed to abridged and often simplified versions of books that fit neatly into a textbook, rather than the original version? Why did we spend so much time "teaching to the test," only to see standardized test scores continue to plateau (or even plummet)? How did I end up with so many students who were unable to write a cohesive thesis statement, who lacked basic math skills, and who were woefully behind in reading comprehension and synthesizing information they'd read?
I was teaching in 2004, which was the year before NCLB went into effect. My district that year decided, like many others, to pretend NCLB had already happened and hold their students to the expectations they would have when NCLB was in effect. At the end of the year, some coworkers and I sat down and counted the instructional days that we lost to "teaching the test" - that is, giving practice TAKS tests and benchmarks to measure learning front he last time we gave practice tests and benchmarks. We counted 76 days lost to such testing. My school's report card came back - we did not pass the benchmarks set by NCLB by one minority student in one grade in one subject. The school principal vowed that we would learn from our "mistakes" and that he would push his students and teachers even harder the next year so they would be ready for the task ahead.
I didn't stay around to see his plans, but decided to stay home with my daughter instead. As my daughter grew into a toddler and then preschooler, a few things became glaringly obvious to my husband and myself. She was bright. By the time she was 3, she was reading. And writing. On her own. As she neared the summer before Kindergarten when most children are learning their alphabet and simple sight words, she was devouring Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She was equally talented in math. I knew what her future would be in a public school: extra worksheets as a way of "serving" her if she qualified for a gifted program, being used (or abused) as a "teacher's helper" to help students who needed extra attention, and sitting there in classes simply waiting for her peers to catch up. This was not the education I wanted for her.
I started thinking of her in the places and situations I witnessed in the schools where I taught and I talked to teacher friends who were still in the classroom. They told me stories of children studying chemistry without touching chemicals, biology without dissections, and learning about the Alamo without being able to touch it because the money wasn't there for field trips. I heard of art and music classes that were required to spend the first 15 minutes (of a 45 minute class) reviewing grammar and math. And I heard of elective classes that were on the chopping block due to budget cuts.
I started thinking there had to be a different path, a different way of doing things, and a different way of thinking. I stumbled across The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer while in Half-Price Books with a visiting friend. As I waited for her to finish, I perused the book and felt a light bulb turn on.
I immediately bought the book and excitedly told my husband my idea that night. He wasn't immediately sold. In fact, his first reaction was a refusal. He didn't want his children to be outcasts. Socially behind. Weird. That was ok. Neither did I. I began researching homeschooling. Co-ops. Clubs. Classes. And the nitty-gritty how to not screw up your child by keeping them at home. I shared what I learned with him and he slowly came around.
By crunch time, my husband was supportive. We decided to keep Lily home from school for Kindergarten. I figured we couldn't mess up Kindergarten that terribly and we could always put her in school for first grade. That year was a turning point for us. We found our groove. She loved it, my husband became my strongest homeschooling supporter, and we were inspired to continue.
Our family grew and as our son neared his first year of school, there was no doubt in my mind that we would homeschool him too. Noah was smart, like his sister, but he was not interested in sitting still and opening up a book. He'd much rather take apart the TV remote and try to see how it worked or study bugs that he found in our backyard. I envisioned him labeled early on as a troublemaker and a poor student because he was more interested in playing than learning. I saw him losing a love of reading as he was told that the books he was interested in weren't worthwhile. I imagined recommendations of ADHD meds if he squirmed "too much" in class. I imagined him falling through the cracks if he needed Special Education services, lost in a system that has too few resources for too many kids.
We are now entering our 6th year of homeschooling. Lily begins 5th grade this fall and Noah begins 2nd grade. And we've been blessed with another daughter, Mia, who won't begin school for a couple more years, but who loves to tagalong and try to keep up with her siblings.
Homeschooling has given us a way that both my daughters and my son can flourish, independently and together, and where they can be challenged at their own levels and hopefully grow to have a love of learning. I invite you to come along on our journey.
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