Oct. 3, 2007 - My Public School Experience
About 8years ago, I started goign to chruch again faithfully-I got very involved with the people in the tiny church and I learned a lot from them. One of the main things I was introduced to was homeschooling. It was an odd idea to me, very conservative, very proctective, very geeky , very radical or whatever. I had my opinions and they wre based off of a bias cause public school was all i knew. I had the typical arguments- kids need to be socialized, how can parents be qualified to teach their kids, et. But I over time and after much contact with homeschooled kids, I started to realize the benefits of homeschooling and later the great need and responsibility that parents have to educate their own children. I have also seen the fall of public schools-and heard and seen teh horrors in the school system today. On the social side, for instance-my father used to work at a high school as a maintenance mechanic...the job is what it sounds like-he fixed things. He would walk from one job to anohter in teh building and the students would act as if he werent' there. some of the conversations he overheard some of the girls talking about made him sick to his stomach. as a man, he had heard some pretty crude conversatons among other men, and been disgusted by the crudeness...but he said it apalled him that young girls could be so much worse! the other thing was the cloting-they have no modesty. Another thing iis hwo disrespectful the kids are to older people. One thing that irked my father was how they would not flush teh toilets. He asked my highschool aged cousin one day why they do that- he said, "well, that's your job". HOw disgusting!!! Kids would walk into him and look at him in disdain cause he was in their way-when they were obviously in his way...
Anyway, those are just a few of the social reasons. anyway, I have many reasons, academically, why I wouldn't send my children to the local schools . Besides religious reasons. I don't remember too many bad things about my public schoool experience. Exept the peer thing. I worked harder at pleasing my peers than my parents. The boys were more than willing to give me the sex education my parents weren't giving me. I was not exposed to much of the drinking or pot smoking or partying education that many of my peers were undoubtedly involved in. I really do have many good memories and a lot that I did take from it.
I moved around a lot. My father just got promotions or transfers. In themiddle of my 3rd grade year, we moved to Jacksonville , fl. At the end of my public school career, i had attended 9-10 schools. In Florida, they are bound, at least in hillsboro county, by the segregation laws. So , for 6th grade and 7th grade, I was shipped into tampa via bus to a school for 6th, and a school for 7th. for some reason, they had 8th and 9th grade at one school, then 10th -12th at the high school. I moved to northern indiana the middle of my 11th grade school year. My best experiences were at the schools in florida. Florida, at that time at least, had a very good education system. There was much about it that was challenging. I excelled in math adn english and by high school was put in honors/advanced classes. I thrived on the challenge. I remember a few of my teachers. I had a teacher, Mrs English, my english teacher. she was very challenging and actually was the one credited for advancing me into honors english. She instilled a love for classics like ray bradbury's Farenheit 451 and Patten's "cry the beloved countyr" and willa cather's "o' pioneers". she was wonderful kind and patient. another teacher I keenly remember was mrs bono. Teh first semester, we had a teacher who sat at the proejctor with notes on it and we were to copy them while he slept. needless to say, I got a d in that class (9th grade). AFter teh christmas break, we had a cute , short fiery lady with short curly hair at the board. MAN! she had a love and passion for history VERY much like Diana Waring. I got an a+ after she walked in. Another teacher I remember was Mr Hettinger who taught economics. He also had a way to bring interest to an otherwise boring subject. I still to this day remember much of what he taught about tehh economy and the way it works. My absolute favorite teacher in all of my high school career is mr Hope. he was the band director of Bloomingdale High School's raging bull band. We were awesome! He created these marching shows with awesome music, like Holst's "the planets" and "les miserable" . He also challenged us wth some really great music. I have played the "rudetsky march" and "march slave" by tchaichovsky...some aaron copeland and other great composers. I think that band class is where I received much of who i am today. OH, how I miss playign music-beautiful music.
When we moved to indiana, i was not prepared for the difference - the classes i attended wre so far behind me-even iin the advanced classes! I was so bored. Everything academic was just so different! I also strongly disliked their music program. I went from playing tchaichovsky and holst to playing bits of music i played in junior high! I was sooo bored and my passion for music was nto what it was. Teh people up here are so mean, too. they are not nearly as accepting or laid back as my peers in florida. AND they are more racist up here! in teh north! I remember sittingin my chem lab group wth 2 guys (1 other girl) and listening to them whisper about the KKK rally they wre to attend that weekend-or talk so horribly about blacks, who were so few I don't even thing they could be considered a minority-more like a rarity. I was so sick. In florida, the community is so diverse! there are many hispanics of different countries and a few black people-but it was all so mixed up...I dont' remember anyone ever getting racial against anybody! In fact, I had a very good friend who was puerto rican . Anyway, I hated that part of school here. there is so muc more here that is bad. The "christians" i knew were and can still be today, the biggest snobs i have ever known. I don't have many good academic things to say abou tthe school. I did have one teacher my senior year , Mrs Burns who was the "meanest" (by other's standards) teacher in teh shool. she was second to Mr Hope on my list! I loved her and she loved me. Mrs burns was my honors english teacher. she instilled the lvoe for shakespeare and writing.
Ok, so I don't look back and remember my hgh schoool years as being the best, but there are a few things that I remember and often wish i could go back to-like playing music in a band, or ensembles, adn in all kinds of competitions. I had some great trips and great times with the kids down there. You know, another thing about the band is that there wre all grades in that one class-it wasn't 11th grade band, like english or math or science. and we al got along. we were all given advance and honor according to performance, not age. I do wish my kids could have those experiences...with music. Maybe I will find a band or orchestra they can get involved in. they are still young right now. I think out of all my experiences with school, tha tis the one i will miss themost for my children. I do'nt care if they never get to go to prom or play sports on a team...the musical experience does so much for character and personality and just every day life- Besides music there is more, like wokring together as a team-and showing respect for those under you and above you-Rythm and control ...
anyway I guess i have made this long enough. All in all, I will homeschool our children because I feel , as well as my hubby, that it is our God given responsibility to teach our children-not another and certainly not their peers. That being the main foundational reason, there are many more to fall off of that. I think i will end here . i hope you have born with me; thanks for reading.
h :)
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