30 March 2007 - A new day
I've tried blogging before but there was never really anything to say. Now I have too much to say, my opinions are getting stronger, and I need an outlet. So here we are.
As a WAHM / homeschool mom / Sunday School teacher / housekeeper / current news reader I find a lot to say Grrrr about, and my sighs can get heavy. The world truly does seem to be ending!
Today's topic is homeschooling, of course there are pros and cons to everything including this. The pros far outweigh the cons though. In fact, our children have improved so much at this difficult age that my entire family is behind me 100% on this increasingly difficult endeavor. I think the hardest part for me is having to work full time (although as a medical transcriptionist my schedule is very flexible), AND keep up with my kids. Did I mention I managed to get myself a ruptured disk in my L5-S1 (bottom of the spine) ... so there are days I'm hurting too much to sit here.
If I don't stay on the kids, they tend to think they can play all day. Their life has turned into a permanent vacation. Which of course I don't mind as long as they keep their priorities straight, which includes getting all their school work done plus their designated household chores (done RIGHT, please!).
I am going to copy/paste an email I sent recently, which sums up my sentiments better than I can seem to today:
I pulled my oldest daughter out of public school after 6th grade in the magnet program, and my youngest came home after 5th grade.
My reasons: My ultimate goal is to get my kids to heaven. Life is more than about here on earth. Education is also very important, but it is secondary. My kids were being greatly influenced by the kids at school, and various teachers with their own personal opinions, so whatever I was teaching them here at home was being absolutely undermined at school, whatever the subject: Dress, homosexuality, attitudes towards others, etc. School kids are being taught to be politically correct towards every group in the world except Christians.
1. Homework - Since I also work fulltime here at home as a transcriptionist, I use a wonderful program that is computer-based called Switched-on-Schoolhouse (www.aop.com). It is completely customizable, so I can add or delete from the lessons as I see fit. It has a calendar, so the kids know when they are getting behind, when they have days off, etc. This does not knock me out of the loop on their education, but it does take a load off. I also supplement with other things, like Math-U-See because they are weak in Math and I see the benefit of them learning the same math being explained in different ways. Anything to strengthen that foundation. Yes, the kids want to get lazy and act like they are on vacation every day of their life, so I use an incentive chart. Rewards are weekend priviliges, and they have certain duties ... schoolwork, chores, being nice, they lose privileges for me having to nag them, for showing bad attitude towards me, etc.
It is easier to get the child to do their schoolwork that it is to get them to do homework ... because when they are homeschooled it's all the same thing. They don't go to school 6-1/2 hours then come home to more work ... they simply do their work and it's done. What you lose at home is the empty time .... school is full of empty and wasted time.
Also, one of the best benefits with this is that they don't make a failing grade on something and just keep going to the next unit without understanding a concept .. we stop, find other ways to explain a concept until they understand, THEN go forward.
2. My kids still keep in touch via telephone and weekend sleep-overs with the friends who were actually real friends. Plus they are very socialized at church. Being homeschooled, they deal with adults maybe more than kids, so they actually deal better with adults and act more mature than before. This is not something people actually believe until they've experienced it.
3. This is no box. Our children are most vulnerable at this age, and giving them the solid mother/child bond rather than the mother/everybody-else's-influences is what will strengthen them. Sure, there are street-wise kids who rise above and become great, but most of them don't, the streets bring them down. In reality, mothers not have to fight outside influences constantly is less wearing on both parent and child, and the child will grow up with better values and be a better citizen of the USA because they grow up KNOWING what they believe ... not hearing one thing at home and another at school ... in most cases I suppose parents cave in and figure if they want to keep their kid out of trouble they have to let others teach them what is and is not politically correct. I don't want my kids brainwashed
4. What fears do I have as a mother homeschooling my children? The same as most anyone ... am I ruining my children? Every time I have a conversation with either of my kids I find the answer to that. No. They can actually have a conversation with me now! Am I the best person to try to teach them to write an essay? Well, if not, there are people who can help, and some people in the POAHS utilize such writing programs. Am I the best person to teach higher math? If we get to a place where a subject is too difficult for me to understand much less teach (we have all have our strengths and weaknesses, that's why high school teachers don't teach the whole spectrum, they teach Math, or English, etc, that's what they are best at), there are tutors out there too. What do I do when my kids miss their friends? Well, first I remind them of how mean those kids were when with them all day every day, then I distract by getting out of the house ... zoo, mall, park, library, POAHS ceramic fun day, whatever. and if their incentive point sheet is followed, they still have weekends to invite friends over or go to their house. Is every day rosy? No. And that's real life.
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