Our son is currently enrolled in British Reception. Starting at the age of 3 years old, British children attend Nursery (which was similar to American preschool) for a government funded 15 hours a week. Then the school year following their 4th birthday, they start attending Reception full time (roughly 7 hours/day and 5 days/week September-July). As you may have guessed, Reception is similar to American Kindergarten, but their curriculum seems much more advanced compared to the American public school I was working in prior to moving here. Another difference is that their schools seem to divide their breaks up throughout the year rather than having as long of a summer break as most American schools. Also, there is no such thing as the "separation of church and state" here. So, my son's school, like many in the UK, is affiliated with the Church of England (which is very similar to Catholicism from what I understand). I digress.
At the end of this school year, we will have to give a formal notification of our intent to home educate him, and an official will likely follow up with us to discuss our plans and maybe even occasionally check to verify we are still home educating.
I intend to write more posts as we go along on this new adventure in homeschooling. So, I decided to address the first topic many people want to ask us about when they hear the news. "WHY?"
Our main reasons and focus for our desire to home educate is positive and has more to do with our unique family needs. However, I will talk about some of those negative "side effects" if you will of modern government funded schools.
Disclaimers: I do want to stop right here and say that I do NOT think that homeschooling is for every family. Some people think that it is, but I can think of various family circumstances in which it wouldn't be the best choice. Each family should research for themselves and come to a decision together on what best suits their unique set of needs. Certain barriers are simply misconceptions; others are genuine reasons not to choose this path. My excitement about our new journey is not a judgement of yours. We also have a great deal of respect for professional educators who strive for excellence. Teaching a classroom of thirty kids from many different backgrounds, levels of abilities, etc. is different in many ways from a parent educating their own child or children. A degree in education is very valuable in managing a classroom. It can be helpful, but it isn't necessary for a home educator. Our choice is not an insult to the very praiseworthy work of many teachers. It is simply what we believe to be best for us.
Reasons Why:
1. Educating our son will allow him to have more time with his daddy. My husband has an ever changing work schedule, and there are times when he is working 12 hour shifts or gets sent off to other places. My husband's work holidays and our son's school holidays don't match up often. By educating Little Man ourselves, we can adjust our school schedule where needed to better compliment Hero's work schedule resulting in more time together. (Today, LM had tears rolling down his face crying for daddy because he was at school while Hero was at home, and his daddy left for work before he got home.) We also won't have to worry about taking off a day from school on the times we have to drop his daddy off for a business trip. We can catch up on a day the other children would be off.
2. Little Man won't have holes in his education because of sick days or doctor's appointments. Unfortunately, he has some health issues that make the usual childhood illnesses more difficult than average to recover from. His average classmate might be out of school with one sickness for a few days. That same sickness might cause Little Man to be out for a week or more and require a trip to the Emergency Room or the pediatrician's office. He also gets sick a lot more often. His doctor is hoping that he will grow out of this tendency. Here recently, we also found out that he will require even more specialists because he inherited my genetic connective tissue disorder. One symptom me and my son share is hyper-mobility which causes injuries due to a lack of stability. Starting next week, we both will be making regular trips to the physical therapist in another city. We both also have to go to other specialists including a cardiologist, an optometrist, and the dentist, and of course, most of those specialists are at least a 30-45 minute drive from home. The great thing about homeschooling is if he is running a fever but still wants to do schoolwork, he can. We can do lessons from anywhere, even if that means his bed, a hospital room, a doctor's waiting room, or the car. Again, there is also the option of an altered schedule.
3. Travel! We are only living here in the UK temporarily, and we are so close to the rest of Europe. I plan to teach LM about famous artists. A part of that lesson plan can be a weekend field trip to the Louvre and the Orsay in France! Want to practice your Spanish language skills and learn more about the culture? Let's plan a field trip to a festival in Spain! Even just within the UK, there are so many educational places to visit- castles, museums, landmarks, etc. What an amazing opportunity! During the school holidays, airlines and trains and attractions often raise their prices due to higher demand. Travelling during term will allow us to afford more trips.
4. Lesson plans can be adjusted to his specific needs. There is no way a public school teacher can adjust a lesson plan to fit each individual child and still accomplish the objectives set out by the government. Children who are advanced might get bored while others get left behind. In our home, the student to teacher ratio will be unbeatable! One to two teachers for one child. If he masters a part of his studies quickly, we can move on to the next level, and if he's struggling with something, we can work on it until he gets it. If we find his interest is sparked by one subject, we have the flexibility to dig deeper before moving to the next topic. We can also seek out experts. There are some amazing universities here in the UK, and I'm sure a professor or student would be willing to answer more in depth questions. In fact, they sometimes plan activities for children or open up resources to the public.
5. More time to play! Dr. Maria Montessori said, "Play is the work of the child." It is so important for healthy child development and learning. Homeschooling lessons, especially with just one child, don't take as long to complete as they do in school. A lot of the public school day is spent on class management. The teacher has to stop everything for bathroom breaks, fights, sending a student to the principal, confiscating cell phones, intercom announcements, and many other disruptions. The students line up to go to lunch, recess, and the bathroom. For P.E., a large group of kids have to change into and out of gym clothes. It all chips away at the time for education and the leftover free time to play. Young kids are expected to sit in desks all day and work on worksheets and take tests, but that is not developmentally appropriate nor is it the best way for them to learn.
When I was homeschooled, I was often able to complete all of my lessons before noon. I was still doing just as much (if not more) actual schoolwork as my peers, and every time I went back to school, I was ahead of others my age and made good grades. Even with five siblings, there were fewer disruptions in our home education. Afterwards, we were free to meet up with other homeschoolers or go explore outside or play with Barbies and G.I. Joes.
I highly recommend reading a book I'm currently rereading: Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. In it he coins the term "nature deficit" to describe how the human body needs time outdoors in nature. I could write a whole post on this one alone, but go read that book, limit your kids screen time, and make them play outside like kids used to do! It is an actual need.
6. Socialization. I know. What? Homeschoolers often refer to socialization as "the S-word" because there are so many misconceptions surrounding home educating. I mean, look at the word "homeschool" or the words "home educate". Doesn't that mean you close your family up in your home? No! I can promise you we won't be doing that. There are several homeschooling groups in the area that meet for activites like field trips. He goes to swim lessons every week. We plan to attend a children's virtues class once a month and plan playdates. We also live within walking distance of a well visited playground. But social interaction doesn't just have to be with a child's peers. The ultimate goal is prepare them to be self sufficient, right? That means he needs to learn how to socialize with people of all ages. We plan on becoming well acquainted with librarians and farmers! I also babysit occasionally, and he gets to practice being a big brother. (We hope to adopt in a few years.) Volunteerism will a part of his education too.
Right now, he is in school all day. Most of his time is spent with kids his own age, and not all of it has been good. He has been bullied all year by another child. Not just verbal attacks...This kid goes for the face. The bully likes to dig his fingernails into my son's face, bash his head into my son's, punch him, and push him off of things. And if my son yells or defends himself in any way? He gets in trouble. Myself and other parents have tried numerous ways of resolving this issue to no avail. (And for all the people who think that kids should have a to endure bullying in order to toughen them up, please tell me what would happen to a person who even once physically attacked you in your workplace? Oh, that's right. They could go to jail for assault. Even verbal abuse can get you fired.) Another child repeatedly encourages all the other 4-6 year old children to go home and call their parents "f***ing s***". Great...
Although we're in the UK for now, it won't be long before we're moving back to the States...Look at the headlines today about issues in American public schools. School shootings-even in elementary schools. Threats. Bullies beating their victims to death or pushing them towards suicide. Teenage pregnancy rates rising. Coaches turning out to be pedophiles. Childhood mental illness increasing while recess times are shortened. High school boys sexually assault a teen girl and put their video of it online for the world to see...I realize that you can have good experiences in public school and not come out crazy, but please don't try to tell me that sending my kid off to a school is the only way to make him into a well rounded, social person.
7. Stability in education. Hero's job makes us move a lot. Our last home, we were only there for a year before we were sent to live overseas. In a couple of years, we will probably be moving back to the States. Once we're there, we never know when or where we'll go next. By home educating our son, his teachers will stay the same. His education will stay tailor made to fit his needs. If we're in the middle of a move, we won't have to stress about all the school days he'll miss or about switching schools. Some subjects, like math for example, need to be learned in steps, and not all schools are working on the same steps at the same time. So, when you switch, it can really trip you up and make things difficult. (Personal experience speaking there.)
8. Quality education. The job locations for Hero's work aren't always in ideal locations when it comes to the quality of the surrounding schools. At our last place, I worked in the local public schools, and they were really suffering due to a lack of funding. My friend actually received a letter from her child's school there saying they were failing her child and there was nothing they could do about it. Private schools aren't always available or affordable. For less than the cost of sending him to one, we can educate him ourselves and join the local homeschooling group.
9. I have a lot of experience, and I love kids! I'm the second oldest of 6 children, and we went back and forth between homeschooling and public schooling. I often helped my mom with the younger kids, and she shared with me many of the things she learned in earning her Masters in Education. I have many hours of babysitting under my belt as well. I even helped care for a girl with severe cerebral palsy as a full time job as a teenager. I took courses on child development and early childhood professions which included internships in an infant room and in an elementary ESL room. I taught many different groups: early years in Sunday School, youth groups, private Christian Pre-K, younger homeschoolers, adult ESL classes for Spanish speakers, and Baha'i children's virtues classes and devotionals. I also did work as a one-on-one support to children with special needs in the community and in the public schools. (My main child was a young boy with severe autism who I miss a lot.) (I used to work and volunteer long hours outside my home before having Little Man. Now, I started my own home business.) I found that I work best with one child or a small group of children, and I am passionate about education. Note: I still have a lot to learn, and I really appreciate any positive mentors or supporters!
10. Researching is my hobby! You could attribute it to my mom accomplishing her goal of creating lifelong learners and readers. I'm slowly working on a degree, but I also like to say that I'm "self-educating". I like to read a lot of non-fiction. I have read stacks of books on child development, health, and education. I never feel at home in a new location without a local library card. My husband and I also love watching documentaries. If I'm interested in a topic, I research every detail and angle I can find. Pinterest is like the perfect trap for me because of that love of research and a leaning toward being a visual learner. There is a whole lingo that I'm learning for modern homeschooling and so many methods and ideas in which to delve deeper. Right now, I'm fascinated with everything Montessori, Waldorf, a secular take on Charlotte Mason, education reform, homeschool organization, Spanish immersion, and LEGO lesson plans! I gave myself a good amount of summer reading to help us prepare. I have also been talking more to the local librarians and memorizing sections of shelving and skimming pages of books to use in our curriculum. A willingness to learn is key to becoming a successful teacher!
Each year, I plan to do a family evaluation to see how we are progressing and whether or not this is still a good fit for us. We are all very excited to start this journey and share with all of you along the way!
~LadyH
Reader Response
1. If you homeschool, what are some of your reasons why? What are some questions your family is frequently asked?
2. If you don't homeschool, did this post answer any questions about those of us who do? Do you have any other questions? (Please be kind.)
