thoughts on schooling

Ever since the tradgedy in Sandy Hook, my facebook newsfeed has been full of people saying they are going to start homeschooling. While keeping children safe is definitely important, I don't think it is neccessarily the best reason to pull kids out of the public school system. Homeschooling is a BIG responsibility and time commitment, and the decision to do so should not be taken lightly. When done right, homeschooling can be a wonderful thing... but when done wrong, it could do more harm than good. It is the somewhat less invested parents who give homeschooling a bit of a bad reputation.

With that said, my husband and I have been considering homeschooling for a few years now, even before we were pregnant. Growing up, I moved a lot. As I experienced one new school after another, in different states all across the country, one thing became painfully clear. The quality of education varies greatly from one school to another. I had some wonderful teachers, and I had some pretty lousy ones, too.  More than once, when I entered a new classroom, I would be far ahead of my classmates, proficient in subjects they had barely even been introduced to. In my fifth grade class in Wyoming, we learned a new language in every quarter- Spanish, German, French, and American Sign Language. To contrast, in my school in Michigan, most kids didn't start a foreign language class until eighth grade, and they only had one option- Spanish.

There is a lot about the public school system that I am unsure about. The quality of education really depends on the teacher and school system. There are some phonomenal teachers who spend countless hours working outside the classroom, however, there are also teachers who have been turned sour after years of being underpaid and taken advantage of. It seems catastrophic to expect one person, no matter how skilled he/she may be, to manage a classroom of over 20 children all on their own. How could every child POSSIBLY get the one on one attention and help that he needs? 

Every child is different. Each has his own strengths, weaknesses, learning styles, and personalities. Yet we expect them all to sit quietly in their seats, learning in the same way? No wonder so many children fall through the cracks are labelled with one learning disability or another. Do you know how many children are misdiagnosed with ADD or ADHD just because they don't fit perfectly into the mold of an "ideal student?"

How, exactly, do we determine how well a student is doing in the classroom? Usually, by grades and test scores. Does being a poor testtaker also make you a bad student? I was one of those students who barely ever studied yet managed to ace almost every test. I learned only the information that I knew I would need on the test, and by the time I had turned it in, I had already forgotten most of it. Yet I excelled. I was an honor student, but how much did I really learn? I had friends who studied for hours, who surely knew much more about the subject matter than I did, yet still managed to score poorly, and were therefore labelled as "sub-par" students. It wasn't fair. Looking back, I know now that I was bored, understimulated, and unethused throughout most of my school years. I had lost interest in learning, lost the all-important thirst for knowledge.

Something needs to change. Clearly, the public education system in this country is not working... at least, not for everyone. There has to be a better way to do things!

I don't anticipate any earth-shattering changes to be made to the education system anytime soon. That is one of many reasons why I have decided to homeschool. While it is definitely not the right choice for eveyone, we feel that it is the right choice for us. There will be more blog posts to follow about our decision to homeschool, and just homeschooling in general.

I have so much more to say, but I fear that I may have lost some of you several paragraphs ago. If any of this interests, concerns, or even annoys you, read some of the articles below.

How Public Education Cripples our Kids and Why by John Taylor Gatto

The Failure of American Public Education by John Hood
The Battle Over School Choice {various opinions}

Click below to read some fascinating facts about homeschool vs. public school:
Homeschool Domination: why these kids will take you down