Homeschooling vs Public Schooling

Note to readers: This is a reflection on my personal experience with our homeschooling vs public schooling decision. It is a hindsight account of events that ultimately influenced my decision to bring my children home. I include my experiences as a college student, a teacher in the public education system and as a parent with children in the public education system. I do not mean for these accounts to be a negative commentary on traditional schooling in any way. I am a supporter of teachers, the work they do, and the parents who choose to send their children to traditional schools. Ultimately, it was the "system" that drove me to actively seek information on alternative education.

Not every family will make the homeschool choice...I never thought I would.

Here's my story:

Although I didn't realize it, my homeschool decision process started more than 20 years ago when I was in college pursuing a degree in advertising.

I really loved the research and creative design aspects of the field and couldn't wait to climb the corporate advertising ladder. At the same time, I knew that one day I wanted to have a family. I started to wonder how I was going to balance the work schedule of an ad exec in a big city like New York or LA with the responsiblities of a family with children.

After much reflection and prayer, I came to the realization that maybe advertising wasn't the best choice for me after all. But what was? I began looking into changing majors to something that satisfied my desire to be creative while allowing some flexiblity for family. Education was a perfect fit. I could research my clients (assess my students needs) and create a plan to reach a desired goal (make a lesson plan for a skill.) Having fun making great bulletin boards was an added bonus!

I really felt this was going to be the "perfect" career choice for me and I especially enjoyed all the practical, idea generating, elementary ed methods classes that I took. (This is where they teach you to how to develop fun lesson plans.) I couldn't wait to finish college and get out to a school with a classroom full of kids eager to learn with the creative lessons that I designed.

After college, I secured a job teaching 5th grade in a small North Georgia town. It may not have been an "ideal" situation for some teachers, but I loved the principal, my colleagues, and the kids. I came in with big ideas and an enthusiasm for finding more. What I found out was that the "real" teaching world didn't always match up with those creative methods classes I had so loved in college. Everything was chosen for me. I was told what to teach, when to teach it, and how to teach it.

Sure, there were moments (I'll emphasize MOMENTS) when I could squeeze in a creative activity that I developed. Even though the kids, parents, and other teachers loved the new ideas, the schedule rarely allowed any sustained concentration on anything not laid out in the approved textbook. "You've got to have them ready for the test!" was the mantra. As a young teacher, I didn't know how else to go about getting ready for "the test". I wasn't confident that my lessons would be adequate. After all, textbook publishers had "experts" to write content and a wealth of resources to utilize in lesson planning. So, I kept most of my ideas to myself and I did as I was told for fear of messing the kids up. (Now I know better.)

I continued to teach for six more years. I tried to weave a few of my own ideas into each day, but scheduling prevented these projects from every becoming anything the kids could really "sink their teeth into. " Meanwhile, I got married and later pregnant with our first child. When my daughter was born, my husband and I made the choice to transition into a one income family so I could focus on raising her. I had several new mommy friends who had also been teachers and we often talked of starting a co-operative homeschool when our children turned five. That never materialized since job transfers spread the four of us to different corners of the country. Nevertheless, the seed for the personal homeschooling vs. public education battle was planted.

I spent the next few years sending my (now two) children to a Christian Mother's Morning Out (MMO) twice a week. They seemed to love going to school, but I often wondered the if institutional school setting was the best situation for them.

When my oldest child was 4 years old, I felt a real tug at my heart to seriously consider the traditional school / homeschool choice. Since she attended MMO only twice a week, I had the brilliant (I thought) idea to "practice" homeschool on the other 3 days to see how it worked. I thought this would make our kindergarten decision easier. So, I gathered a few workbooks and craft ideas and we set to work.

It was a disaster!

She wouldn't sit and listen, she didn't want to do the craft like I thought it should be done, and every other sentence was...."But my TEACHER doesn't do it like that!" Obviously, I had no business trying to teach my child. I must be crazy! I can't match what she gets at school. (Does that sound crazy coming from a certified teacher?)

We made the choice to enroll her in public school for kindergarten. She had a loving, dedicated, professional teacher that year - who found out in late September she was pregnant with twins! Needless to say, the teacher missed more than a few days due to illness. After spring break she went on maternity leave. However, she had done an excellent job preparing the class for 1st grade. The last six weeks of school were spent with a substitute teacher reviewing everything the teacher had already covered. My thought..."If they could 'finish' kindergarten six weeks early, WHY are they reviewing instead of moving on? What a waste. Oh, well,this year had special circumstances, next year will be different."

The next year, she was placed at a new school because of rezoning. Mrs. G had grown children and she had been a very involved parent at the school doing PTO and volunteer work. She had gone back to school to become a certified teacher, and this was her first year. At least we wouldn't have to worry about maternity leave again! :-) She did an excellent job following the plan that was given to her by the "powers that be" and my daughter LOVED her. But, I could tell from our conversations, that like me, she was disappointed that her day and curriculum were so rigidly planned that she never had an opportunity to teach with her ideas. I was unhappy with the "spiral" math curriculum the county had adopted. When I expressed my concern to the teacher, she said "I don't have any choice. I have to teach it this way." I knew her dilemma all too personally. It was during this year I began to seriously question my reasons for choosing traditional schooling.

At the end of the school year my husband's job relocated us to a new state. (If you're counting, that's 3 different schools in 3 years for my oldest.) This time, I'd have one starting Kindergarten and one in the 2nd grade, so the pressure was on to make a good choice. The thought of homeschool was fleeting, but never was a serious consideration. We extensively researched schools in our new area on the web and in person. Our house hunt was limited to areas that were zoned for the schools at the top of our list. This year would be different. I was convinced that helping in the classrooms would finally put to rest the questions I had about traditional schools.

Instead, my concerns grew.

My kindergartener was not challenged and complained constantly that all she did at school was "baby stuff."

My second grader came home singing recess rhymes with inappropriate moral content, and complained about the activities she (and the rest of the class) had to miss because of the behavior of one or two students.

After multiple conferences with both teachers and the principal, I was convinced that I wanted something different for my children. Something the traditional schools were not equipped to provide. I was ready to start homeschooling!

When I approached my husband with the idea of homeschooling, he was less than thrilled. He only knew one homeschool family - with 11 children. (I can't imagine getting 11 children ready and out the door for school - so that seemed like a logical choice for that family.) We were a family with 2 children. Besides, they'd miss out on the pleasure of standing in the lunch line! :-)

After alot of prayer, looking for research against homeschooling, and a pretty good sales pitch by me, he agreed to try homeschool for a year with the stipulation that they would return to school if it seemed they were not thriving. I was so excited! A dream of mine had come true! I'd get to teach what I wanted to, how I wanted to, and when I wanted to, AND to the people I loved the most!

The first year was a success and my husband has renewed my contract (so to speak) every year since. It hasn't been easy. (In fact, there are days that are just plain awful!) But OVERALL it has been a perfect choice for our family. Our children are recieving the spiritual, character, and academic education WE want them to have and it's tailor made to suit their needs.

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