Updates and Absences

We continue our homeschooling journey, but I've not had time to keep up with journaling. Numerous moves have kept me from doing anything other than focusing on family and schooling. We now are back in Alaska, where we started right before choosing to homeschool. It's been a lot of ups and downs, trial and error, but we've got a good thing going and the boys have chosen to continue schooling at home. I ask them every year if they want to try public school and they decline. There are many pros to schooling at home on a schedule that fits our family. So, this post will be about that.

Pros Of Homeschooling

Diabetes Awareness Through Education

1.) Health: Connor and myself are Type I Diabetic which makes it complicated for other people who aren't familiar with this potentially fatal disease and how important it is to follow protocol. There were constant issues for Connor to deal with when he was in public school and I was always having to go to the school to deal with them. He misses a lot less days of schooling due to poor blood sugar and sick days. For myself, there are sometimes days where it's hard to leave the house due to complications of having T1D for 30 years. I have a setup that helps keep schoolwork going even when I need some recovery time.

On the f/v Magnus Martens

2.) Extra-Curricular Opportunities: Russell and Connor have now had the opportunity to learn along side their dad, the ins and outs of commercial fishing. They are not only learning the value of a work ethic that is strong and honest, but math skills that aren't taught in school. Skills that include estimating the total volume of fish and calculating the best prices offered by the canneries. I'm sure the younger two will follow in their older brother's footsteps when they're old enough to safely work on the boat.

DIPAC Fish Hatchery

3.) Learning Outside the Classroom: We have more opportunities to learn outside and learn more unusual topics than the average public school student. In fact, every outing is a potential learning opportunity and I do my best to utilize every opportunity we come across. Our calendar is full of many different classes for all the kids either learning together or apart. Art, music, science, cultural appreciation, are all just some of the things we learn about on a nearly daily basis.

Salmon Dissection/Fish Biology at DIPAC

Tlingit Culture at the Alaska State Museum

Shelter Building with Dad

History: The Sinking of the Titanic (craft time)

Sensory Box (rice): at home

Horsemanship: Echo Ranch

The possibilities are truly endless for learning and education. You don't have to have any special degree to do so, just a willingness to do the research and take advantage of all the resources available, both free and for nominal fees for at home learning. The library is always free as well. So if you want to take the plunge into homeschooling, I highly suggest seeking out local homeschool groups in your area. Facebook is great for connecting with co-ops and support groups. Don't wait! Check it out today!

Quality and the Herd Mentality

Many homeschooling parents are subject to ridicule and skepticism for the choice they have made, to take their children's education into their own hands. Their reasons are valid and well thought through. No one makes a decision like this, light-heartedly and without considering the effort it will take to ensure their child is receiving a better education (in their opinion) than one offered in the public school system. Some of the reasons are one or a combination of the following:

• avoiding bullies (either after an encounter or as a preemptive measure)
• for religious reasons
• disappointment in child's low scores despite known ability
• child expresses disinterest, or contempt for school
• behaviors learned by other (troubled) children, is brought home
• negative experience with inexperienced or cruel teachers
• medical reasons (too many to list)

There are more, and every parent has a story to tell as to why they have avoided public school or pulled their children from the public school system. Here is a list, that some say was done, with heavy sarcasm, by a homeschooling mom who got tired of  explaining why she was homeschooling, to those who just really don't get it. No one knows the true author, but it's certainly stuff I have thought.

Why Public Schooling Is Better Than Homeschooling

• Most parents were educated in the under funded public school system, and so are not smart enough to homeschool their own children.
• Children who receive one-on-one homeschooling will learn more than others, giving them an unfair advantage in the marketplace. This is undemocratic.
• How can children learn to defend themselves unless they have to fight off bullies on a daily basis?
• Ridicule from other children is important to the socialization process.
• Children in public schools can get more practice "Just Saying No" to drugs, cigarettes and alcohol.
• Fluorescent lighting may have significant health benefits.
• Publicly asking permission to go to the bathroom teaches young people their place in society.
• The fashion industry depends upon the peer pressure that only public schools can generate.
• Public schools foster cultural literacy, passing on important traditions like the singing of "Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg..."
• Homeschooled children may not learn important office career skills, like how to sit still for six hours straight.

I would add:

• Children in public schools learn cultural and religious tolerance of all, but only if you don't count Christianity as a valid religion or Christians as humans deserving of rights.
• Public school teaches valuable life lessons that will help them excel in future careers, especially politics. For example, if you tell a good enough lie, you can get away with anything.

Of course, there ARE good public school teachers out there. I am afraid that they are becoming fewer and farther between. My boys both had a good start with amazing kindergarten teachers. My second son continued on with another great first grade teacher, but my oldest wilted under the cruelty and dishonesty of his first grade teacher. We are still trying to undo the harm. So, I chose homeschool, because no one can love my kids like me, and with so many resources, and support out there, I know that they will have a richer education by being taught at home. What are your reasons, either for or against homeschooling? Why did you personally choose your child's particular education?