Home Schooling, Ya Right!

Arizona is 50th in the nation for education, sad but true. Although there are some school districts in Arizona, that I feel do a decent job at teaching, I do not live in any of them, to make matters worse I am completely unhappy with the current school district in which we live. Trying to be proactive about my children’s education I started diligently searching for other options. Some of the local charter schools seem enticing, but were on one side of the pendulum or the other. Being either too "back to basic" or too "Monisory". Why can't there be a happy medium? Children learn both ways and need an equal balance of both. Unfortunately, none of the schools provide exactly what I am looking for with an equally balanced education. So, I am stuck deciding between the two; which one do I choose?

Yet another challenge I have been struggling with is both of my children have summer birthdays. If I start them on time, they both will be the youngest in the class. Peyton will be 4 for the first month of Kindergarten; that is scary, she is still a baby! They both will be the last to drive, the last to date (although I don't care if they did not start dating until they are married, dating is such an unfriendly game) and youngest for sports. Boys are often time not quite ready mentally, not that they can't learn just as well as girls, but in my experience have a more difficult time sitting still and listening for the long periods of time that schooling requires. Some may say starting a girl as the youngest in the class is not as big of a problem since they are often times more academically and socially ready. Did anyone ever think of fourteen to fifteen years down the road, what about developing physically? They will be the last to develop and the last to start their period. Ouch!!! What does that do to ones’ self-esteem?

Okay, so I decide to hold both of them back for a year, so now they are the oldest in the class. I hope that my daughter will not have to worry about the physical issues fourteen to fifteen years down the road and my son will be able to sit and listen in class better and be the oldest for sports. They both will be able to drive first in their class and if I must let them, date when their friends do. Problem solved right? No, they will be board out of their minds for a year until they start school.

I graduated from ASU East Suma Cum Laude with a degree Education four years ago and have been teaching preschool out of my house ever since. I feel that Peyton seems to already getting board with the curriculum I am teaching and I can hardly imagine what another year will do. She needs to be encouraged to continue on with her education, not be hindered due to her age. Again, arises the nagging question of what to do next year? Neither her nor myself are ready for the leap of kindergarten, especially when I am not totally satisfied with the schooling situation to begin with.

After much prayer and fasting, I felt impressed upon that I should home school. Truth be told the thought of home schooling has completely terrified me from the moment it was introduced to me about three years ago by Larry's aunt Tyrina. Although what she was doing with her children completely amazed and inspired me, I did not think I had the initiative to do it myself with my own children. The battle with in myself continued to grow stronger and stronger and I was feeling more and more torn. A few days later while at Peyton’s music class, I asked one of the moms after class if she home schooled. Her face lit up as she graciously shared her experience of schooling with me and then she invited me to join 5 Pillars. If you are not familiar with 5 Pillars, it is a book club on steroids! We (parents only) read one of the classics like The Chosen, Taming of the Shrew, and many more every two weeks and write papers on the books, have discussions, and listen to guest speakers. For those who know me, know that I hate reading! My mom use to pay me to read in High School, and other than college texts books and other required reading for school, I have not picked up a chapter book since. This being said, I felt it was time to challenge myself. Therefore, I joined.

The fist night at 5 Pillars Karen Packer shared a quote from Churchill "To every person there comes that special moment when he is tapped on the shoulder to do a very special thing unique to him. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared for the work that would be his finest hour.” A light went on that was brighter than the sun! I have worked my whole life to be a teacher, and I now have the privilege of teaching my own children is more than a miracle, it is a blessing.

Although I now feel strong in my decision, I have received much opposition. Comments like:

What about teaching preschool? I will continue to teach one 4 year old class of preschool next year on Tuesday/Thursday from 12-2. This way I can school my children in the mornings. I love teaching preschool and don't want to give it up. Preschool is a critical step of a child's educational future, thus I will not stop providing my services to those who truly want and need them.

Home school kids are nerds; they don’t have the interaction they need with other children. Recently I have discovered just how common home schooling in my area really is, there is a large group of people whom home school and get together for play dates and field trips on a regular basis. In addition, I am a social butterfly and I won’t let my children be anti social and stay home all day, because I can’t do that either. In fact, one perk of paying taxes my children are entitled to attend the public neighborhood school for any classes that I want. So I am planning on sending them to the extras like: physical education, computers, music, and art and then schooling them for the academics. I have also met many amazing children recently who have been homeschooled and they are the most normal but polite and knowledgeable children I have ever met.

All of the families who home school are Mormon, your children are going to grow up in a bubble. There are many families who are Mormon that home school that is a fact, but there are many who are not as well. Religion does not matter when it comes to education. If a person is a good person with wholesome values why should it matter what religion they are? I am Mormon, is there something wrong with me? Am I a crazy person, or just normal like everyone else? Sure, I may be a little more conservative than others, but really is there something wrong with that? I enjoy life, I have wonderful friends both Mormon and not. I do not live in a bubble and I won’t raise my children to live that way either.

Wow, home schooling is a lot of work, I would not want to do it. Well don’t.

I enjoy my quiet time. Well, I enjoy my quiet time as well, but I still will get it. It is all about planning the day, if I am directing them to stay busy, they won’t have time to fight and cause trouble, they will be too busy having fun learning. Thankfully, children need their quiet time too.

My kids drive me crazy, I look forward to them being in school. If they drive you crazy, how do you think a teacher will feel? As a parent I have everything invested in my children, does an outsider as well? Yes, there are some things that drive me crazy about my children too but I can deal with it; after all, they are my children.

This one is from myself: I don’t know everything, how am I going to teach them all they need to know? After much meditation and prayer, I realized that thankfully I don’t need to know everything; I just need to know how to find it and where to look. I have already looked up state standards, and not from the state 50th in education. Standards help give a starting point and a direction in how to teach the items that one desires to teach. They also allow individuality of the concepts being taught while still covering age appropriate skills. This is a wonderful reassurance that I with a little help can be the best teacher for my children.

Thankfully, I have not only received opposition but praise as well. I have had many people tell me that I am making the right choice and I will be a wonderful teacher for my children, and to those people I thank you. I also would like to thank everyone who has expressed their opposition to me as well. I have listened to all of my constructive criticism on the issue of homeschooling and plan to use this criticism to better my teaching as well as my children. This is a gigantic decision that not only affects my life but my children’s as well. I know that if I do not do an exceptional job, it is my children who suffer. That scares me to death! I know that home schooling will take a lot of hard work, dedication, and prayer, but it is something I am willing to give to my children. After all my children are my everything and I love them.