Oh homeschooling. I have gone back and forth on the subject almost daily for the past two years. The question of course, whether or not home school my daughter. Here are the pros - educating my kid in a way that I see fit and allowing her to explore and expand on things that she is interested in, giving her as much or as little guidance as she needs. Not having to participate in all the BS that goes on in public schools. Being able to travel and have a lot of her education outside. (This may not seem like a big deal, but for me - it is.) I would say probably half of my friends are considering or actively homeschooling their kids, so there is a fantastic support network and lots of things to do in the area. Cons - She will miss out on the whole school experience, which actually is a pro/con. I'm really terrible at math and am scared to death of being responsible for teaching it to my daughter. And even though many people have said it doesn't really matter, I am worried about socialization.
See? See how this is hard? Last year we had totally made up our minds to home school and then this year we totally made up our minds to send her to school and signed up for preschool at the local Montessori place. I feel like rainman. I go back and forth and am virtually obsessed with the topic. My biggest fear - which is not listed in the cons is that which ever I chose will not be the choice that is right for her. That my decision will be based on what is right for me. If she is homeschooled am I doing it because it's right for her, or because I don't want to let go of my little girl? If I send her to school is it because it's right for her, or because I want more time for myself?
In being a nutbag about this, I have come across a couple of pretty cool sites/blogs by moms who are homeschooling their kids. Here are my two favorites:
Handmade Homeschool
Pioneer Woman
This is a tough one. Thoughts are appreciated.
_oe you totally inspired this. I started writing comments on your blog and then just said screw it, this should be a separate blog :)
Later Taters.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Home School Blues.
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1 comment:
This comment will be solid gold because I am A.) semi-drunk and B.) uber-biased. Ready? Good. Easiest first:
Math: You are no longer a 15,16,17,18 year old girl; though you may have enjoyed a quicker learning tempo as a child/teen you are a battle hardened mother today, and i promise you - because i have proven it in my own home laboratory - that you can crush the same algebra course in one week today that took you a year to fail then. Scouts honor.
Socialization: Okay ... this ones legit. What can you do? The norm will always hold this cards.
Selfishness: When you brought this up it broke my heart, just a little. I feel it too, and that's what pains me most, the - what must be - universality of this quiet guilt. How could we have been so easily fooled into thinking our love and attention is second best to their left-brain, conformist intentions. That's my bias showing its ugly fang, sorry. I'll stand by the statement though, modern america welcomes no one who takes a turn off the grid. As information becomes more and more liberated the fallacious role of 'teacher' will become more and more suspect ... no different than everything and anything else the internet has hugely (and perhaps accidentally) improven upon and/or outright provided.
That's some words! Bottom line: you and i both should make realistic choices based on our lives and what is possible within them. I'm still struggling too ... I don't know ... I guess I'm just saying don't give up without a fight.
cheers
_oe
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