"I have heard that you homeschool...."

In the last week since public school has been out, I have had 3 different families ask me about homeschooling.

The conversation always starts the same way: "You homeschool, right? I heard from ______ that you are homeschooling...." They then ask the usual questions:

• "Is it hard?"
• "How do you do it?"
• "How do you teach math/science?"
• "How do you get started?"
• "Was it hard to adjust?"
• "Do you like it?"

My answers?

• "No, it isn't hard. It's not the easiest thing I have ever done, but it is not hard."
• "I just do it. I made the decision to homeschool and made a commitment to homeschool for one year. If we didn't like it, we would go to private school. We love it."
• "I started as a Chemistry major in college. Math and science are easy for me; HOWEVER, there are so many resources available to teach math and science that even if you are terrible in these subjects, you can teach them. There are online classes, DVD's, software and so many other options."
• "Read all you can about homeschooling. Go to http://www.hslda.org/ and find out the legal requirements for your state. Then do what you need to do legally to start. Then just choose a curriculum."
• "It wasn't really har for us to adjust. We had a very calm school year. (That's not saying every day is flowers and sunshine!) But it has been an easy transition."
• "We love it. We would never do anything else. My youngest (who is now 3) will never set foot in a public school (or a private one, for tha matter)."

Homescooling is becoming an option for many parents. They are sick and tired of what the public schools have to offer.

I encourage you to explore homeschooling as an option!

Online public schools

I stand corrected - sort of.

I spoke in this post about how the government would not pour money into online public education.

Well, as you can see on this site (http://www.k12.com/schooling_programs/k8/index.html), it appears that the Virtual Public School is becoming a reality.

Sort of.

This is not available in my state (yet), but there are a good handful of states with this available.

But I have heard a very interesting tidbit via the homeschooling circuit. These programs are only being marketed to families that are currently homeschooling. As one teacher said: "If we sent information home to all of the parents with kids in school now, we would lose too many students." Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I have received info in the mail about this program (that it will be available in the future). I could see why it would be appealing to some homeschoolers:

• It is free.
• It is considered being enrolled in public school - an easier option in some states with lots of homeschooling restrictions.

If the only reason why parents want to homeschool is for safety reasons, then I think this would be a wonderful alternative for those families. I think it is a viable alternative for many people.

I am not interested in this program. Too much governmental involvement for my tastes, but I am a rebel. ;) I also enjoy having a curriculum choice - not having to follow what the public schools do.

Parental Rights vs. Government Interference

I imagine this post will get strong comments on both sides of the fence - and that's okay.

I just received my copy of the The Home School Court Report (put out by the HSLDA), and I have to say I am shocked and appalled by what I read.

• In Michigan, homeschoolers are harassed by school officials (illegally) in order to coerce homeschoolers to submit to taking a survey. Two years in a row.
• In Montana, homeschoolers were (illegally) asked to register with the school district.
• In Ohio, homeschoolers were asked to submit paperwork not required by law.
• In Pennsylvania, school districts are (illegally) attempting to impose additional, unauthorized testing for homeschooling students.
• In South Carolina, school officials came to the homes of homeschooling families and insisted that families provide information about their homeschooling family not required by law.

There were many more instances, but these are a good sampling of the kinds of things going on.

Our public school system is broken. Period. I am not saying that there are not a few schools out there that I would send my children to, but I know they are few and far between.

Perhaps there are those out there who want to change the public school system. That's fine. (Right now, it doesn't need to be "fixed" - I believe it needs to be completely restructured and redone, but that's another story.) I don't want my kids sitting in a broken system for years while politicians bicker about how to "fix" the schools. I want my kids to receive an excellent education without the fear of being shot in school. My children are too important to me for that.

Yes, private school is an option. I am not sure if I want my kids in any school at this point (the whole group mentality thing bugs me), but if I had to put my kids in school, I could live with private school.

The issue I have with reading all of these stories is that officials (from a broken, inefficient system) are knocking on the doors of homeschoolers (who are trying to help kids escape this broken system) and harassing them.

Where were these officials when I complained that a newsletter sent home by my child's public school teacher had more mistakes than I could count? Where were these officials when I had my public-school-educated child asking me if they spoke English in Michigan? Where were these officials when I repeatedly went to them and asked for protection for my kids because the hoodlums in the school were physically assaulting my kids? Where are these officials when I listen to the kids in my Sunday School class struggle to read? Where were these officials when I corrected schoolwork/study sheets the teachers sent home with the kids?

In my honest opinion, these officials need to worry about what is going on in their own backyard and try to fix what is wrong in their schools - not harass families who are trying to escape their broken system.

Homeschooling works. There are numerous studies (that can be seen on the HSLDA website) proving how much better homeschooling students perform academically compared to public school students.

My message to those school officials:

"Quit wasting your time and resources going after homeschoolers. Go work on the problems staring you in the face in your schools."

Hilarious school answering machine message

I got this from my online friend's blog. You can visit her blog at http://www.mercedesrules.wordpress.com/

California staff voted unanimously to record on their school telephone answering machine This is the actual answering machine message for the school. This came about because they implemented a policy requiring students and parents to be responsible for their children’s absences and missing homework. The school and teachers are being sued by parents who want their children’s failing grades changed to passing grades - even though those children were absent 15-30 times during the semester and did not complete enough schoolwork to pass their classes. The outgoing message:


“Hello! You have reached the automated answering service of your school. In order to assist you in connecting to the right staff member, please listen to all the options before making a selection:

To lie about why your child is absent - Press 1

To make excuses for why your child did not do his work-Press 2

To complain about what we do - Press 3

To swear at staff members - Press 4

To ask why you didn’t get information that was already enclosed in your newsletter and several flyers mailed to you - Press 5

If you want us to raise your child - Press 6

If you want to reach out and touch, slap or hit someone -Press 7

To request another teacher, for the third time this year -Press 8

To complain about bus transportation - Press 9

To complain about school lunches - Press 0

If you realize this is the real world and your child must be accountable and responsible for his/her own behavior, class work, homework and that it’s not the teachers’ fault for your child’s lack of effort: Hang up and have a nice day!

If you want this in Spanish, you must be in the wrong country.”

Just for the record - I am not an idiot

"How are you going to teach the kids math and science?"

If I have one more person ask me this, I will scream. At them. Loudly.

Let's look at my personal qualifications, shall we? I was a CHEMISTRY MAJOR in college. I think I have a decent enough background in science and math in order to scrape by with high school chemistry and math with my children, thank you very much.

Now, even if I did NOT have that background, there are SO MANY resources available to homeschoolers these days! This is NEVER an issue!

There are books written to self-teach kids, online courses, support groups, DVD courses, etc., etc., etc. Teacher guides are written for parents that may not have a background in that subject.

And, speaking of teacher guides, if teachers are so all-knowing and most wise, why do they need answer keys and teacher edition books? Hmmmm?

I am just sayin'.

If you go into most private schools (which, by the way, no one will argue the fact that private schools are doing a much better job than public schools), if you look at the education of most of the teachers, they did not major in education. For example, my son's kindergarten teacher held a degree in Accounting. Hmmmmm....

The public school system WANTS you to think that only people trained in education are qualified to teach kids. WRONG!!!!! They WANT your tax dollars so they can teach (and I use that term loosely) your kids. They do NOT want to admit that homeschooling is better than public school. They will do everything they can to deny that. Why? Because they want your money!!!!

Cynical? Yep. I am.

Guns, shots fired and sex

I am feeling ill today.

I live in a relatively small city. Not a huge metropolis.

This week alone, the following stories have made news:

• Shots fired at a local high school
• A loaded, cocked handgun was found in a girl's bookbag at the same school
• A teacher has been arrested, accused of having sex with a 15-year-old student.

The first two incidents happened in the school right across the street from my church on 2 different days.

The third incident happened at the high school my kids would be going to, if I would allow them to set foot back in public school. (Um. No. Not gonna happen.)

What on earth is happening in our schools?

I have a theory. Just my personal theory - not gonna research it to see if anyone else agrees. Maybe I will later.

Kids need supervision. They need adult interaction.

Years of having latchkey kids and letting other people raise our kids has begun to come around and bite us in the butt.

God designed families to be a certain way. They designed it so that kids would be raised and nurtured by family members. In some instances, friends and extended family would have to step up and help (when there was a death in the family, for example, and Mom or Dad passed away). They were also educated by parents (at least in the younger years).

Trust me - if you spend all day together, you bond. You can't HELP but bond. Hahaha.

I have worked in day care centers. There are some wonderful ones - and I have seen them. Still, it is just not the same as being with Mom or Dad. Period. It just isn't.

I have seen some research indicating that young kids in day care are advanced academically compared to peers who are at home. (The research was done using at-risk kids, so I believe the study to have limited application to the average family, but that is not the issue here.) Let's assume they are right and ALL kids benefit academically from being in day care.

Knowing their alphabet a year early or being able to say colors and shapes does NOT make up for the love of a Mom or Dad. Hugs and kisses all day go a LOT longer than drilling colors and shapes in the classroom.

As far as the academic end, I have this to say: it depends on the parents and the child.

My oldest son was reading at age 3 (almost 4). Why? Because he wanted to play on the computer, and I said he had to learn how to read before he could play on the computer. So he asked to be taught to read. Within a week, he was reading words and putting together sentences. He is reading on a college level now (at 11 years old).

My daughter was a different story. I could not get her to sit still long enough to read a book until she was around 5. She learned how to read when she was almost 6. At 9, she is reading on about a 6th grade level (about 2 years ahead).

My youngest just turned 3. He knows his colors and shapes and numbers up to 12. He can do some really basic addition. Reading holds zero interest for him at this point.

Now, in all of these cases, the same person taught them. Me. Same teacher, same basic methods, 3 different kids.

Yeah, I got off on a tangent, but the point is that early academic training does not insure academic success later on, but Mom and Dad being around helps a lot more.

I do not know the details of the incidents I mentioned in the beginning of this article, but I can make a few bets, one of which is that the kids had a lot of unsupervised time.

Maybe my kids will be sick of being around me by the time they graduate from high school and go to college, but I doubt it. Most homeschooling families I have seen have very close ties in high school, college and beyond.

Breaks my heart....

I teach Sunday School. The grade level is 4th - 6th grades.



The stories I hear from these kids are always very candid. I guess they feel safe with me. I dunno. I always ask them about their week, and I never know what I will get as a response.



The crap these kids deal with on an everyday basis hurts me. They are bullied, taunted, ridiculed and (occassionally) assaulted on an almost daily basis in school. When I ask if they have told an adult, the answer is usually

• "Yes, but nothing happened."


• "Yes, but it got worse when [the offender] found out, so I stopped saying anything."


• "Yes, but there is nothing the teacher/Mom/Dad/etc. can do."

People, I know from experience that it practically takes an Act of Congress to get a kid removed from school for bullying, etc. In the interim, most of the measures taken (if any) seem like they are punishing the victim, not the offender.

Take this for example: A parent went to a school to complain about her son being physically assaulted by another student. The action taken? The victim was removed from the classroom, not the offender. So, in the eyes of the offender, nothing happened. Yeah. Way to show the offender that his behavior was not acceptable.

Why not remove the offender? Why not isolate the offender? Instead, the victim is basically taken into protective custody.

So back to the kids in my class.

These kids know how The System works. it's sad. They know that they will not be protected, that The System is geared to protect the offender. (We can't trample on Little Johnny's rights, now can we? Just because he terrorizes other kids, well, that's not the issue, now is it?)

Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong.

The System needs to change. Until it does, my kids are staying away from public schools.