Take little notice that we're doing what we believe to be best for our children as much as those in your school. We're pulling money out of our own pockets for books and dictionaries and crayons and curriculum--a full set for each child, including a teacher's manual, reference books, supplemental materials, science lab equipment, foreign language classes, music lessons, on and on it goes. There are no discounts to us for our field trips, either, because our family isn't very large, and we can't sell Christmas cards and candy bars to help with special purchases. The neighbors frown on that, but we buy yours. And we still pay our taxes so the government schools can buy all that stuff for their students and take them to the movies for good behavior.
Our own homeschooling days are in the past. We're finished. But my heart is still with those who are giving it a go for themselves in the here and now. I want to cheer them on. I want to acknowledge their hard work and the prayers they pour out over their children, that God will give them wisdom and success. And many, many, many of us have succeeded and been stellar. We have children of homeschooling friends who are, in turn, homeschooling their own children now. Our precious grandchildren are being homeschooled. There are homeschooled graduates who are exemplary mothers and fathers. There are those who have upstanding positions in their careers, who are, by anyone's standards, pillars in the community. Homeschooling is not a second rate, second choice mode of education.
I taught in a traditional classroom before I began homeschooling. Education in the home was our personal choice for offering our best to our children. They flourished. We began a local support group that grew to over 200 families that provided activities, field trips, and specialized classes that can be challenging for single families to tackle, like speech class and foreign languages. Parents who were specialized in their fields taught small classes, like chemistry labs and biology labs.
We worked on the state home education board to provide conferences, achievement testing, monthly newsletters with timely articles on materials and methods, awareness of legalities and legislative involvement. I was the state testing coordinator for several years, and It thrilled me to see that homeschoolers' achievement test scores far exceeded students in the government schools and out-distanced private schools as well.
After we finished our own journey through homeschooling, I went back to get my masters degree in instructional strategies and processes, planning to return to the traditional classroom. It was amazing to see that what graduate students were being taught as new methods and strategies were simply those that homeschoolers use on a daily basis. We had already figured it out because we search for effective means to help our children succeed. No, we don't know everything there is to know about education, but all we have to know is our own children and how to help them be successful learners. And we give our best to the task.
Homeschooling families go above and beyond what most people observe, simply because it's done in the home and in the heart. And it really annoys us when we're so marginalized, especially in the church where there should be a biblical framework for all fanfare. This is a major reason why most homeschooling families aren't attracted to churches with private schools.
Just sayin'.
~ Photo, One of Our Graduations
