The Decision

I remember when I was in 8th grade, the assistant principal of our school held a goodbye assembly for all of the students in my grade before we left for high school. He said that in life there are 3 things you absolutely have to do. He listed them off in this order: birth, death and then he threw a curve ball to my then 14 year old brain. He said you have to make decisions. I remember thinking at the time that he was a little off his rocker because there were plenty of things that could also be put on that list but his point was a valid one and it stuck with me.

Just like everyone, I have made my fair share of poor decisions. Thankfully, I turned out alright, maybe a little quirky with a hint of OCD and not always as patient as I would like to be but I'm working on it.

Since the minute I found out I was pregnant, I have painstakingly thought through just about every decision that would involve my baby with the utmost attention, research and prayer. Dont misunderstand me, I am not in any way claiming to be a perfect mother. I couldn't be farther from it. There is just no such thing. Making decisions for another life has been a very sobering experience but one that has given such great purpose to my existence. I knew I would breastfeed exclusively for the first 6 months, and continue for as long as it worked for both of us. I co-slept, made my own baby food and rocked the baby wearing look. I've been a huge advocate for natural parenting and read labels constantly. So when, I started looking into the school system where we are currently living ( I am a planner so although it seems early to be looking into schools, that's just the way I do it and it has proven beneficial time and time again) I was horrified with what I found. I was a public school graduate and had a great experience but location is everything when it comes to public education. Needless to say I quickly threw out the idea of sending our son to public school. Then I researched private schools in our area and wasn't very impressed with what I found, not to mention they came with a price tag that was a little too far out of our budget.
I felt defeated, discouraged and frustrated. What was I going to do? How could our son possibly receive the education that we so wanted for him? It came down to moving or homeschooling. Since moving is not in the cards for us, homeschooling was the last resort.

I guess I had the same negative opinions that most people have when the topic of homeschooling is brought up in conversation, unless of course they are homeschooling their children or they had a homeschool education themselves. I'd say the two main comments I have heard are A. Homeschool families are all weirdos and B. What about socialization? Honestly speaking, I was guilty of having such thoughts back in the day. I was speaking from knowledge that I gained only through movies or tv and we all know how close to the truth that can be. The more I read and talk to families who homeschool the more I love the whole idea of it. The benefits I have found from not even starting yet outweigh any cons that I can think of. Actually my cons list is completely blank except for some scribbles and stick figures that I started to draw when I got bored from not being able to put anything negative on the page. It's funny how some things fall in to your lap out of sheer circumstance then turn out to be something that means so much more. I feel that way about my quest to homeschool our children. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to go down this path, I'm looking forward to having a hands on relationship with my son's education and truly being able to watch him grow and develop in a entirely different way.

To address the common concerns in the case to homeschool, the first one being that all homeschooling families are weirdos.... Well maybe they are but aren't we all a little weird? So you are saying that sending your kid to public school means that they won't be weird? I don't think so. I went to public school and I'm all kinds of weird. And the infamous socialization concern, that one is like people asking me how I get my protein if I don't eat meat.... Silly and just plain uneducated. You don't send your child to school to socialize. You send them to get an education. There is actually very little time given to "socialize" in school. Socialization stems from the home or it should stem from the home. I can't expect a teacher with 20 something five year olds to have time to make sure my son knows how to interact with others and be a functioning member of society. That is my job as his parent and something I want to teach him. The nice thing about homeschool is that there are usually only a few children to teach so actual school time is complete much quicker then if there were 5 or 6 times that. Meaning much more time left over for extracurricular activities, field trips and time for kids to explore subjects that actually interest them.

I don't believe that homeschooling is for everyone but I think that everyone could homeschool if they so wanted. I am excited to see how this chapter of our lives plays out. Hope this has given the skeptics a little food for thought :)