So why did we decide on home education? Well...
Basically... I like it more than I like other forms of education.
I love learning.
I love teaching.
I love that it gives me more time with my girls.
I love teaching.
I love that it gives me more time with my girls.
That is the gist of it, really.
I’m already here, I’m home, I’m already teaching them daily, I know the benefits to home education, so why not?
I want to start out by saying that our decision was not based on a fear that public school will have an influence on how our children "turn out". Whether or not our kids will grow up with faith and values is not in question here.
I know that regardless of whether or not my children attend public school, they will learn all about Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection. They will learn the Gospel. They will learn about theology, morality, history, science, virtues, and etiquette. All of these bases and more are covered because we are their parents and we are not going to ignore what scripture has called us to do as parents.
The real questions I had to ask were:
- Where and how should my girls learn reading, writing, and arithmetic?
- Does home education offer my girls real benefits that will help them in the long run?
- What are my reasons for wanting to educate at home and not in a public school?
- Is public school necessary for our family at this point in time?
My Thoughts on Public School vs Home Education
I believe that public school is a blessing and not something that should ever be taken for granted. Public education is free, the teachers are often amazing, and learning in a group setting every day does have it's advantages. Public school provides families with the option for both parents to work if needed and it makes it easy for kids to meet and interact with a wide range of people.
Despite the fact that I was the most shy person in the entire school, I loved much of my time spent in public school. Not all of it, obviously, or I wouldn't be writing these posts (hah!), but I had a few teachers that were really good at what they did and I loved learning in a group setting. I have nothing against sending kids to public school. Not everyone is called to teach these things at home; not everyone has the option to teach general education at home and there is nothing wrong with that. If we are ever in a situation where I am not able to be home, I will send my kids to public school and that will be perfectly fine. Public school is obviously not perfect but it is a fantastic resource for everyone that needs it.
I do believe though that not everyone needs public school. I also believe that home education is a far superior way to educate children.
Here are a few of my reservations when it comes to public education:
- The only thing that I can say really scares me about the public system is the increasing lack of freedoms that kids have. Religious freedom is very quickly disappearing as is free speech. You so much as hint that you were even thinking about guns in school and you can be sent to jail. You so much as disagree with someone "important" and you can be expelled. People are turning into scared little sissies and I don’t want my children to grow up with a fear of what they can and cannot say in public. They'll have enough of that to deal with when they become adults.
- Judging from my own experience, public school teaching methods don’t put nearly enough emphasis on the importance of reading comprehension, nor do they put any emphasis on study skills. Those, I believe, are the two most important things that kids will need when they get to be adults.
- There is SO much unnecessary busy work done in school. The time that it takes to really learn a concept vs. how much time is given to students to learn it is vastly different. We spent years learning math concepts that we could have learned in maybe a year. The busy work continues on to after school as well! Tons and tons and tons of monotonous homework that can keep kids up way too late.
In the end I know that I could have received a better education and this is why I have the desire to home educate.
