I am a Homeschooling parent. I have not always been one though. I was against teaching my own children for many reasons. First, that is a teacher’s job, I have the utmost respect for dedicated teachers. Second, I loved school, well the learning part anyways. And I had hoped my children would as well. And last, I thought that homeschoolers were fanatical. Why else would they keep their children from such a normal pass time? That has all changed in the last few years however. I am now a firm believer that if a situation like ours exists, then further action is needed by the parent. I am a parent, and because of that I have a unique understanding and can teach my child to her strengths. And work with her one on one every day on her weaknesses.

I do have a lot of respect for teachers. I have many memories of dedicated teachers forcing me to give my best and never accepting less than the best. I have memories of projects that really soaked in to me and taught me concepts that I was struggling to understand. And only a dedicated teacher can do that. I firmly believed that. Now however I have found that teachers today are not the teachers I grew up with. I have had more than one teacher teach my child with little regard toward her needs, and no honesty toward my child’s abilities. I have always asked for updates on my children and for her they always came back the same, “oh she’s doing great’ “she’s at the top of her class” only to find out that she’s struggling getting the basic levels of reading. If she was the top of the class, where were the rest of the students? And quite frankly some of her teachers were not only incompetent, but lazy. One teacher wouldn’t even move from her chair to ensure that her students were understanding the lessons being taught.  Nor did she ensure that the students were under her control. My daughter came home crying everyday due to feelings of inadequacy because she didn’t understand and from the effects of fellow students cutting her shoelaces in class, stealing her supplies and the such.  I can provide those same wonderful projects that I remember. Any person can access teachers resources. I may not know how to get up in front of a room and teach 30 children at once, but if I am qualified to help with my child’s homework that takes 4 hours after school, why am I not qualified to assist my child in their main educational needs?

I did enjoy learning when I was in school, however I despised the petty jealousies and dramas that I faced every day. I didn’t like the way everyone had to act alike to be liked. I didn’t’ like the way children were so cruel to each other. And that was years ago. The cruelty that kids go to these days is extreme. Think I’m exaggerating?  Look at Columbine High School. Look at all the other school that have gone through student enforced hostage situations. All were brought on either by the student experiencing the cruelty of others, or those wishing to inflict that cruelty. In my day the harshest thing I had to deal with was name calling and my pigtails being pulled in her grade. She’s dealing with threats of bodily harm, laughter over her mistakes (typical I admit), ruining of her clothing while she is wearing them, and theft of supplies and other personal belongings.  And this was 1^st grade!!!

I am now one of those self-proclaimed fanatics. I am fanatical about my children’s education. And that’s it. I have met many home school parents and though many do teach their children from a religious stand point, it is far from the only reason why many home school.  My children have unique strengths even from each other. What works for one child will not necessarily work for the other ones.  I have the ability to tailor their learning. I can find resources that will best suit each one. Take spelling for example, one child learns quickly and prefers to move on daily with new words to master. And just work on the words that she ‘trips’ over. My other child however ‘trips’ over almost every word. And so for her Moving on slowly and reviewing constantly is the way to go. A teacher in a public school does not have the luxury of speeding through for one student, and holding back for another. She has 28 other students she’s working with. How is it possible for her to cater to every student? She can’t obviously. She is trained to work with the large group. Not on the individual basis.

So what has caused me to change my mind? My children. I have 4 and they are each different. When my oldest was starting school it was so exciting for her. Learning comes as naturally to her as it does to me. My 8 year old on the other hand has struggled since day one. My younger two kids are each just as different. And if I have 4 very unique children, how many different types of learners will a teacher with 30 students face every day?  Now a dedicated teacher, one who teaches with her/his heart, can find a way. I know, because I have had those wonder filled teachers light up my own learning experiences in ways that I never would have that to be a learning experience, but others needed so badly. Those teachers are so hard to find. Many teachers now only teach for a paycheck. And a teacher that is only there to fill the need of a job cannot hope to achieve the necessary engagement that is needed to truly teach the students.

Is this the only way to teach children? No of course not. Each family has their own unique needs. Ours just requires a bit more individualized attention. Someone else’s may need the group setting to learn. Are there still dedicated teachers out there giving their heart to their students? Of course and I applaud their efforts. I pray that they will light up their student’s lives as my beloved teachers did for me. And I hope as my children look back, they will think fondly of the lessons I teach them and remember the times we’ve had searching for dinosaur bones and fossils, creating ocean exhibits, taking spelling words down to their phonetically sounding pattern and just the time we’ve had and the laughter we’ve shared. I may not be trained for a class room, but I am trained on how to work with my children.

t8ermomma,

A home schooling mom.