Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Homeschooling

I'm torn about this particular subject- I do believe that parents have the right to home school their children, and that in matters of home school the government should largely BUTT OUT. For me the issue comes from personal experience- I loved school, the whole experience. I can learn anywhere, but I particularly enjoyed the social aspects of school, and the long lasting relationships made with my peers, and especially those established with my teachers. Teachers make a long lasting impression on children, and the best teachers are those who guide, and encourage, and teach. I've had several excellent teachers, Mr. Cook- who drilled into my head diagramming sentences, and how an essay should be written, Mrs. Banks- who first taught me about the holocaust, the horrors people can do to each other, and encouraging further my love of history. Ms. Foster- my math teacher, through who's teaching I learned to love math, and forced me to take an extra year of math, making my college experience easier. And Coach Stephenson, who's AP European History class remains my all time favorite, and because of my experience in his class I decided to pursue my degree in history. It is because of these teachers that I am seriously considering teaching, and if I should decide to, I hope that I can be as good a teacher as they were. School also gave me the opportunity, early on, to stand up for my beliefs, and what was right- irregardless of the consequences.

However, all parts of school are not pleasant. I shall never forget the teacher who told me that I would never amount to anything, or the various school bullies. But until lately, I've not really been considering homeschooling as an option for any of my future children. Until my sister started homeschooling my nephews, I'd never met a home schooled child who was "normal" they were all slightly off. Last year, I had the opportunity to attend the home schooling conference with my sister, in San Antonio TX, since then I have been seriously considering the home school option. Because I learned that if the parent is aware and is active in expanding both child's mind and social experiences, that homeschooling will top anything that public or private school can offer.

I've been dwelling on this since I recently saw a school's summer reading list, on this list were books that my children will never read, full of content that glorifies "alternative" life styles, teen promiscuity, and liberal ideas. I also know that certain agendas are becoming more aggressively pushed in the public schools, and they are things that I do not want my children exposed to. So I'm seriously considering homeschooling, to the point that if I can home school, I probably will.

1 comment:

  1. Well you can be as social as you want to be with homeschooling.

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