PICTURES AND POSTS ON WHY I HOMESCHOOL:

One of the first things a family tries to teach its children is the difference between good and evil, right and wrong. One of the first things our schools do is destroy that distinction.

 

-John Taylor Gatto, foreword, “The Art of Education”

Poor Unsocialized Homeschooler:

I homeschool because I want to be involved in Keilee’s learning. She was so bored in public school. I want to show her the world and show her that learning takes place everywhere! She blossoms in this kind of environment and I have met the most amazing HS parents; online and in real life.

I COULD…

April 27th, 2009

I could send her to school,

And from 8:00-3:00 have no clue

How many times she laughed,

How many times she learned,

How many times she questioned,

How many times she understood,

How many times she wanted more information,

How many times she bounced in her chair from excitement,

How many times she was proud of something she did.

I could send her to school and she could get her exercise and sunshine,

In 20 minute doses, if she had on the right shoes, and no one misbehaved and everyone was quiet.

I could send her to school

And let her eat the processed high fat, low nutrition fare they feed millions of children a day,

if she had enough time to eat and didnít talk too loud and if no one grabbed her food.

Or..

I could homeschool her.

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Homeschoolers After Dinner Entertainment:

Reason #101

Saturday, May 24th, 2008

Warm spring breezes, Sun beating down.
We travel in a caravan, down winding roads through the countryside.

We pass a school; poor children, trapped inside with their rules and bathroom passes, and cookie cutter education.

We arrive.
It is a beautiful day.
Moms sitting on blankets. No one asks each other, How did your child do on that spelling test last Friday? There is laughter and caring and love. A group of women who want the best possible education for their children.

Kids everywhere, splashing in the water, riding boats down the current, finding geodes and creepy crawlies and fish and crawdads.
Squeals of delight coming from all directions. One loses a shoe, one a boat, someone sees a snake. When they are tired they come to throw their cold bodies over mommy, when they are hungry they eat.

After lunch costumes are donned and all a sudden, princesses and knights and magicians and ninjas are everywhere. There is even a chicken and a horse! Imaginations abound and worlds are created. Is there anything more wonderful than children in costumes under a grove of trees?

We reluctantly load tired kids and gear into the car.
Did we turn left here or right?
I don’t remember seeing that silo? Did you see those goats before?
Finally arriving home.
What a magical day.
This is why I homeschool my child.

My Girl
February 2009

I have done so many things in my life and times.

I have traveled across the United States and lived in San Francisco. I have spit off the Golden Gate Bridge and worked for a company that won an Oscar. I have laughed and loved and cried. I have lost a brother and a mother. I have been a wife, a sister, an aunt, a friend.

But none of those things compare to what I am now…a Mother. I never knew how this would feel. I never understood the saying “I would die for you”, not really. Now I do. I never understood wanting so badly to give your child the world. Now I do.

She delights me, amazes me, frustrates me, makes me laugh so hard my stomach hurts, makes me cry, teaches me, makes my heart overflow with love, refuses to clean her room, never stops talking, drives me crazy, fills me with a miraculous joy, lights up my life.

She loves to bake, to dance, to sing, to perform in plays, to read, to play video games, to watch silly reality TV, to eat, to pretend, to swim, to be outside. She prefers mushrooms to chocolate. She loves to snuggle and still believes hugs from me will fix any hurt.

She is smart, caring, beautiful; inside and out, inventive, curious, kind, a champion of the underdog, intuitive, a dreamer. She refuses to use plastic bags, she believes in causes, she wants to change the world. She believes anything is possible. She is such a good God girl, she has so much faith. When I listen to her prayers I am so touched by the things she prays for.

She sees the world as a wondrous place and almost every day she claps her hands and jumps up and down with excitement. She believes in fairies and magic and Santa Claus and the tooth fairy. She makes me believe in them also. She has a definite sense of right and wrong. She absolutely hates to hurt anyone feelings. She is not just a “glass half full” kinda girl; she is a ìgive me some water and I will fill it upî kinda girl. She refuses to say bad words; which, to her, is butt, dang, crap. I call her my little nun.

She could have her leg cut off and refuse to cry. She wants to be tough; she thinks she has to be tough. This is not something I have taught her, it is just who she is. She thinks she must take care of me, and I tell her I am the one taking care of her. However, in some of my darkest moments she is there like a light beckoning me to her. I couldn’t have survived my Mother’s death without her.

She can be wise beyond her years one minute and playing with her dolls the next. She is a beautiful mix of young and old. The sound of her laughter is the sweetest music I have ever heard.

I am her teacher, but she has taught me so much. She has taught me how to be completely unselfish, how to love unconditionally, how to put someone else’s well being above my own. She is my life, my world.

I love you so much my baby girl. To Pluto and back…

Mommy

In the beginning.

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

Nine months ago I decided to homeschool my 7 year old. This journey has been a strange trip. Like Alice, I feel like we fell into the rabbit hole and have been running around crazy down here ever since.

The choices are endless! What to teach? What curriculum to use? How long each day? Every subject every day? How long for each subject? Do it all before lunch? Take a break every hour? Do I make her sit at the table? In her bedroom? Upside down from the ceiling fan?

Ideas? With the help of what I have quickly discovered are the most creative, intelligent people on earth; homeschool moms; I have lesson plans, books lists, science experiments, plays, math games, lapbooks, notebooks, timelines, nature journals, interactive sites, spelling lists, scavenger hunts the list is endless!

I have discovered I rock at planning and gathering information. My excel spreadsheets have enough ideas, plans, websites to get us through high school! It is the implementation that needs work. But I am getting there..slowly. As my best friend is so fond of saying, ìThank goodness 2nd grade is a review year!î

I have decided we are not a ìbuy a curriculum and go through it lessonbylesson kinda girls. So some days we do only math, with jelly beans. Or just planets using amazing videos on Ted.com, or we build fairy houses. We build burrows with blankets like prairie dogs. [Of course ours are complete with tea in china cups and cookies!] We may homeschool under a tree on a blanket with a Little House book, or on the stairs. She makes inventions with Tubers and Zots. She designs a city on Pluto with domes over everything so people can breath. She makes a town out of paper. We try to go an entire day with no electricity or running water like they did during Colonial times. [This is harder than it sounds we quickly found out!]

We are winging it day by day. And I am loving it. It is the best thing I have ever done. And who knows one day, I may even know what I am doing!!! Even Alice eventually made it out!

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