Reasons to Homeschool

Every now and then I reflect on the reasons that I homeschool. This list, taken from the National Home Education Network's website, includes many reasons that remind me why I put myself through all that I do and why I think homeschooling is the best educational option for my family. Yes, I send Samuel to public school and I am very grateful for the helpful aspects of this, but homeschooling is my number one choice.

We are very fortunate to live in a time when, in many parts of the world, there are numerous options in how we choose to educate our children. It was not always like this, and even nowadays, parents in Germany are getting harrassed and face getting their children taken away for teaching them at home (though there recently was some good news regarding this http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/Germany/200705171.asp ) .

Anyways, here is the list:

"Reasons To Homeschool

Spend more time together as a family.

Spend more time with children when they are rested and fresh rather than tired and cranky from school.

Avoid having to struggle to get children to do the tedious busywork that is so often sent home as homework.

Allow children time to learn subjects not usually taught in their school.

Allow children to have time for more in-depth study than what is allowed in school.

Allow children to learn at their own pace, not too slow or too fast.

Allow children to work at a level that is appropriate to their own developmental stage. Skills and concepts can be introduced at the right time for that child.

Provide long, uninterrupted blocks of time for writing, reading, playing, thinking, or working so that the child is able to engage in sophisticated, complex activities and thought processes.

Encourage concentration and focus - which are discouraged in crowded classrooms with too many distractions.

Encourage the child to develop the ability to pace her/himself - this is prevented in a classroom where the schedule is designed to keep every child busy all the time.

Spend a lot of time out-of-doors. This is more healthy than spending most weekdays indoors in a crowded, and often overheated, classroom.

Spending more time out-of-doors results in feeling more in touch with the changing of the seasons and with the small and often overlooked miracles of nature.

Children learn to help more with household chores, developing a sense of personal responsibility.
Children learn life skills, such as cooking, in a natural way, by spending time with adults who are engaged in those activities.

More time spent on household responsibilities strengthens family bonds because people become more committed to things they have invested in (in this case, by working for the family).

Time is available for more nonacademic pursuits such as art or music. This leads to a richer, happier life.

Children will not feel like passive recipients of subject matter selected by their teachers. They will learn to design their own education and take responsibility for it.

Children will realize that learning can take place in a large variety of ways.

Children will learn to seek out assistance from many alternative sources, rather than relying on a classroom teacher to provide all the answers.

A more relaxed, less hectic lifestyle is possible when families do not feel the necessity to supplement school during after-school and week-end hours.

Busywork can be avoided.

Learning can be more efficient since methods can be used that suit a child's particular learning style.

Children will avoid being forced to work in "cooperative learning groups" which include children who have very uncooperative attitudes.

Children can learn to work for internal satisfaction rather than for external rewards.

Children will not be motivated to "take the easy way out" by doing just enough work to satisfy their teacher. They will learn to be their own judge of the quality of their own work.

Children will be more willing to take risks and be creative since they do not have to worry about being embarrassed in front of peers.

Children will be more confident since they are not subject to constant fear of criticism from teachers.

Peer pressure will be reduced. There will be less pressure to grow up as quickly in terms of clothing styles, music, language, interest in the opposite sex.

Social interactions will be by choice and based on common interests.

Friends can be more varied, not just with the child's chronological age peer group who happen to go to the same school.

Field trips can be taken on a much more frequent basis.

Field trips can be much more enjoyable and more productive when not done with a large school group which usually involves moving too quickly and dealing with too many distractions.

Field trips can be directly tied into the child's own curriculum.

Volunteer service activities can be included in the family's regular schedule. Community service can be of tremendous importance in a child's development and can be a great learning experience.

Scheduling can be flexible, allowing travel during less expensive and less crowded off-peak times. This can allow for more travel than otherwise, which is a wonderful learning experience.

Children will be less likely to compare their own knowledge or intelligence with other children and will be less likely to become either conceited or feel inferior.

Religious and special family days can be planned and celebrated.

More time will be spent with people (friends and family) who really love and care about the children. Children will bond more with siblings and parents since they will spend more time together playing, working, and helping each other.

Feedback on children's work will be immediate and appropriate. They won't have to wait for a teacher to grade and return their work later to find out if they understood it.

Feedback can be much more useful than just marking answers incorrect or giving grades.

Testing is optional. Time doesn't have to be spent on testing or preparing for testing unless the parent and/or child desires it.

Observation and discussion are ongoing at home and additional assessment methods are often redundant. Testing, if used, is best used to indicate areas for further work.

Grading is usually unnecessary and learning is seen as motivating in and of itself. Understanding and knowledge are the rewards for studying, rather than grades (or stickers, or teacher's approval, etc.).

Children can be consistently guided in a family's values and can learn them by seeing and participating in parents' daily lives.

Children will learn to devote their energy and time to activities that THEY think are worthwhile.

Children will be able to learn about their ethnicities in a manner that will not demean.

Children will be able to understand multiculturalism in its true sense and not from the pseudo-multicultural materials presented in schools which tend to depict others from a dominant culture perspective.

Children will not learn to "fit into society," but will, instead, value morality and love more than status and money.

Children do not have to wait until they are grown to begin to seriously explore their passions; they can start living now.

Children's education can be more complete than what schools offer.

Children who are "different" in any way can avoid being subjected to the constant and merciless teasing, taunting, and bullying which so often occurs in school.

Children with special needs will be encouraged to reach their full potential and not be limited by the use of "cookie cutter" educational methods used in schools.

Low standards or expectations of school personnel will not influence or limit children's ability to learn and excel.

Children will be safer from gangs, drugs, and guns.

Parents will decide what is important for the children to learn, rather than a government bureaucracy.

Family will not be forced to work within school's traditional hours if it does not fit well with their job schedules and sleep needs."

This Happened Sooner than I Thought it Would!

Only eleven days ago I commented that Samuel was not yet trying to escape our yard, but it has happened, he is trying to wander off! Not only that, while we were at the park Wednesday he ran away. He surprised us by running to a place that he had never gone before. After almost six years of going to the same park, there have been one or two places that he tends to wander towards, but this time he went in a completely different direction. He has also become capable of running very fast. We have plans of attending the park regularly this summer but now we are going to have to re-strategize a bit so that we can be there safely. Due to complications that occurred when I delivered Samuel I am not able to run and he is now capable of running fast enough that he gives our in-home helpers a challenge.

Taking time off from going to the park to re-strategize wouldn't bother me, but this is one of the only regular chances that his brothers have to see their friends. Another way of looking at it is that we should keep going and immediately deal with this problem. Samuel was very aware that he had done something wrong on Wednesday. We tried not to talk about it with him very much but he was still making comments like "I made you upset." This morning he made the comment "While I am at school I am going to run outside." I called his teacher and gave them a warning about this. I was glad to see that he did not attempt to run away as I walked him into school.

At home we have a fenced-in yard. As the weather warms up and my husband starts working in the garage, however, the boys like to join him and this area of our house is not fenced in. In the last couple days he has tried to wander from the places that he is allowed to be outside of the fence. Samuel's older brother and younger brother can be trusted to wander freely in our yard, and even go visit our neighbors, but this is not the case with Samuel. It will be difficult to enforce the different levels of "freedom" that they have. What will Samuel think of this?!

This is another time I'll be referring to my social stories book to see how it might be best to approach this. In the meantime we have placed a bolt on the gate of our fence. He might be able to remove it, but it would take him long enough that he couldn't easily escape. I am also looking into getting some extra help with him.

Wondering About Heaven

The pastor of my church gives wonderful homilies (the Catholic version of sermons), and this past Sunday one of the topics discussed was heaven! This has been a subject of great interest to Samuel lately. Now that he can sit through almost half of mass in the church I have been wondering how I could get him to pay more attention. The timing of this homily was perfect! He wants to know if our bodies go to heaven when we die. He has become upset when I tell him that they do not. Our pastor's homily clarified that eventually, our bodies and souls will be reunited in heaven. Samuel also asks about what a soul is. I better brush up on my knowledge of theology and be ready for more questions and answers!

Samuel Drew a Picture and Wrote a Story!

As I was talking on the phone with my parents on Sunday. Samuel came up to me and said "I want to draw a picture." I nodded an "okay," thinking that I would have to help him find the things necessary to do this once I was off the phone.

However, he surprised me by going and finding paper and a marker all on his own. He drew in the hallway outside of the room where I was talking and I could tell he was very excited about his endeavor. When I got off the phone he proudly told me that he had drawn a picture and had written a story! Here are pictures of his work. The first page is a picture of Wow! Wow! Wubbsy! (his current TV favorite.. it has replaced The Upside Down Show). The next two pages are a story about him. The first page says "Nick Jr. Wow Wow Wubbsy, a cat." Samuel read the second page to me but I could not understand what he said and I cannot make out any other words except "The End."

Samuel has been encouraged to draw and of course has been learning how to write in school for years, but this is the first time that he has come up with the idea of drawing a picture on his own, and I'm pretty sure it is the first time he has written any more than one or two sentences from his own idea. I have reorganized some shelving in the kitchen so he can more easily access paper in the future!

He undertook this activity after I made him stop playing on the computer after about a half hour session. I'm sure he was playing on the Nick Jr. website. I like that instead of sitting and scripting he took his thoughts and did something as creative as this. Samuel's big brother has been doing things like this since he was four years old so we're used to seeing all kinds of drawings and stories and games that he creates. Seeing it from Samuel is brand new and it's awesome! I'm left wondering if we really need to worry about the scripting as much as I might have thought. I'll continue to place limitations on how much time he is on the computer, but perhaps I should follow his computer time with encouragement to draw, write, or talk about what he has just done.

Turning Our Attention Outdoors

Each year when the warm weather arrives I must recalculate my daily activities to allow some time to get outdoors. This is easier to do some years than others. Last year it was quite difficult because I had the baby to deal with. I had to make sure I had a stroller or some kind of seat for her to sit in. This year the baby is walking and likes to keep up with her brothers. I'm comfortable leaving her in the care of her oldest brother for short amounts of time. Since any activity I undertake has a lag time between the time I announce doing it and the time I can actually do it, it is helpful to get all of the kids outside while I prepare to do so myself. Big brother's help is important for this. So far Samuel does not try to escape from our fenced-in yard, but I'm sure the day of him wandering off is coming. We are quite vigilant in watching him while he is outside.

My "Garden"

My garden currently consists of 6 planter pots, and will most likely grow to 8 or 9 pots this summer. Three of the planters have pansies that somehow survived the winter and a couple of petunias I picked up yesterday. I just planted basil and green beans in the remaining 3 planters. I also have peppers and another flower (Portulaca) to plant. I'll start them in seed starter peat cups and transplant them to the planter pots I'll eventually get around to buying. Since our dirt has lots of clay in it and I don't have a lot of time right now, I cannot till up enough of a gardening area in the ground, so I will stick with the planter pots for now. These are very modest attempts at gardening, but they're enough for right now. The baby and my youngest son like to help me do the watering. I am going to solicit Samuel's help with this as well. This will be a good exercise for his motor skills.

Games

Samuel's in-home helpers take him outside for a while when they are here. They work on appropriate playing, which they alternate with a few minutes of free time. A few things they do are play with his construction trucks in the dirt, draw with sidewalk chalk, play catch, and tag. Samuel's brothers often join in all the fun, especially his younger brother (who thinks the in-home helpers are here to keep HIM entertained!).

I try to take a few minutes each day to get outside with the boys myself. I'm not particularly athletic or "outdoorsy", but I'll get out and kick the soccer ball around, play badminton and track ball with my oldest son. The usual game I have with Samuel is to play catch. It is most successful if I tell him the number of tosses we have to do. We're starting with 30 this spring and I told him we have to work up to 100 by the end of the summer. I remember struggling to get 10 tosses with him a few years ago. Sometimes we play catch with a large play ball and sometimes I use the "velcro hands" in this picture.

On Thursday it was quite hot in the afternoon. The boys put on their bathing suits and played in the sprinkler and squirted each other with the hose. I'll probably get some kind of wading pool for the baby and I'm sure we'll try a slip-n-slide at some point over the summer. Those things never last too long for us.

Samuel's time outdoors alone involves a lot of self-talk and repetitive actions, like digging in dirt or sifting through dried out cut grass. Each year, however, he is playing more "appropriately" (in this case, similar to his brothers). He has a whole fleet of Tonka trucks that are excavating an area that used to hold 3 azalea bushes. (The bushes died, Samuel did not harm them) I have not listened closely, but it could be that he is playing "Bob the Builder" with them. I have caught Samuel and his younger brother playing together several times. There is some back and forth activity, but sometimes Samuel is just getting his brother to say things for him and repeat it.

Just a Few Special Touches

I tend to get so bogged down with the details of keeping my home in working order that I sometimes lose sight of an important job I have, helping my kids to have fun. It really doesn't take much to make an ordinary day a little more special for them, but it is an effort for me to take the time to do these little things. One thing I did on the spur of the moment earlier this week was to have a "campfire" for the boys before bedtime. Everyone got their pajamas on and then we sat on a blanket in the backyard around a "campfire", 4 or 5 votive and jar candles lit up. The boys thought this was great; my oldest son made a snack for us while I set it up. Tonight I made a double layer pudding dessert for them. They also enjoyed this immensely. We try to eat outside on occasion. Today would have been the perfect weather to do so, but my husband was busy in the garage and I did not want to endeavor moving everything to the table outside by myself.

The change in routine to allow for more time outside throws me off a little, but it is worth it. We need to take advantage of being outside now because once the heat of the summer arrives it is hard for us to tolerate being outdoors at all.

This has been a long, taxing week. My head is spinning from all the thought going on about Samuel, his school, finding a good place for him at his school.

I did manage to find out that Samuel's class will not be moving to a "modular classroom" (there are so many different names for these things I have learned!). A story goes along with how I learned this, but I probably shouldn't share it here. I will say that this situation has caused me to wonder if I'm hearing the full truth from school staff and administration. I have heard statements from different people that just don't jive. The bottom line, however, is that Samuel's class won't be in a modular classroom and in spite of the questions I now have about who is saying what, I'll just be happy with that knowledge.

Samuel is enjoying an afternoon outside in our backyard. His younger brother, who turns 5 in a few weeks, has discovered the joys of playing games on the computer. Great, now I have 3 boys who fight over 2 computers! There is also Dad's laptop, but it isn't always available. (If I was my husband I would NEVER let it be available to them!) When my oldest lamented about not having a computer to play on I jokingly told him "Just think, some day you'll tell your grandchildren about how you had to endure the hardship of sharing electronics with your brothers!" He didn't sense my sarcasm.

We all attended a car show that was part of the Apple Blossom Festival up in Winchester, Virginia. We let Samuel know ahead of time that he could not touch the cars and he did terrific! He also did very well walking with my husband and he played nicely at a playground before we left. He fussed a bit when it was time to leave, but I gave him a 2 minute countdown. I had to get him when time was up, but he accepted that and then willingly walked the 3/4 mile back to our car with us. It's great to be able to all go out together like this. It takes a bit of planning and strategizing, but it always does with young children anyways!

My husband and I have decided that we are going to attempt a vacation to our favorite place on Earth.. mid-coast Maine! We went there on our honeymoon, which was the end of May almost 11 years ago. We have returned there many times together, usually the same time of year. As mid-spring approaches now I always start thinking about going back. Our trips there used to mean staying at quaint inns and B&Bs, but not any more (though we may attempt one overnight stay at one of the inns)! We now either stay with friends we have made up there, or we rent a house. We're going to try and rent a charming house we stayed in four years ago. I have not been up there in 3 years, so I'm very very excited at the prospect of returning. Two years ago I was pregnant and last year my husband just took the boys while I stayed home with the baby. I'm not even going to think about the 12 hours of driving up there with a fiery tempered baby girl who hates car rides!

Our rite of spring and other things

The arrival of spring is affecting the members of our family in various ways. My husband is suffering from seasonal allergies now more than in the twelve years I have known him. I'm suffering a bit as well. The worst is still probably a few weeks away. It usually gets to the point that I cannot wear eye makeup for several weeks, which will occur some time around Memorial Day Weekend (the end of May). Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it does make me a bit groggy.

Samuel has become much more withdrawn the past few weeks. This is probably due to a variety of things, only one of which is the change in season. I'm still carefully monitoring his computer activity, both for quantity and quality. His latest obsession is to use Writing With Symbols to type in words. After doing this he uses the speech function on the software and listens to the words being spoken. One evening I caught him typing words off the collection of videos he was carrying around that day. He also types in character names from favorite TV shows, and tonight he asked me to type in "Klasky Csupo" (the producers of Nickelodeon shows like Rugrats). I was amazed that the software speech pronounced it correctly! I probably shouldn't encourage this activity too much, but I like to let him have a little bit of fun in his day, even if it is quirky.

I have re-started Samuel's religion lessons at home. The children his age are going to be making their First Communion next weekend. I had thought at the beginning of the school year that he would join them, but our lessons at home became a bit sporadic when I started focusing on school academics over the winter. I also decided to have Samuel wait because of his behavior in church. I am hopeful that it will improve the next few years. Samuel is interested in God and in religion, so I am very grateful for that. He thinks about heaven alot and asks me questions about it:

"Mom, where is Grandma?" "She is in heaven, Samuel." "Can she come back?" "No, she cannot come back" "I don't want to go to heaven!" "We all want to go there someday Samuel. You probably won't go there for a while yet."

He has decided that the dreamy scenes in a Disney vacation-planning DVD we received are heaven. He asks "Mom, can you come back from heaven to go to Disney World?"

Another favorite topic of late for Samuel is area businesses. A restaurant we frequented years ago went out of business (well, I'm assuming it went out of business) and was replaced by another restaurant a few months later. When we drive by it the questions start.."Mom, why did the G__________ go out of business?" "It might have gone out of business because they didn't sell enough food." "I want to go to the G_______________!" "We can't, it is no longer there. Now it is The S_________________". As we drive into town on Sunday mornings for church he asks us to notify him whether businesses are open or closed.

I e-mailed the school principal over the weekend asking about the portable question. She tried calling me back while I was out this morning, so now we're playing phone tag.