Homeschooling?

This is now old news, but I am resigning from my position in January to stay at home with our son, Henry, for the last few months that he is a pre-schooler.

Unknown to many, homeschooling has always been my dream. I want to teach to my childrens' interests. I want to take field trips to places that seem inconsequential to much of the world, and I want to find out what makes each of them "tick".  And I want to teach to that.

Example: when I found a large caterpillar last year, I captured it. We watched it spin a cocoon (which is what moths do vs. butterflies, who spin the lovely chrysallis). We had to move in the interim, but we learned everything we could about "Nopal", learning that he was an Emperor Moth and that he was unable to eat after emerging but only could reproduce for a short time.

One of my front porch ponderings tonight was, what do other parents think of homeschooling? Do you have resources that you recommend? Do you wish you hadn't homeschooled? Do you wish that you had? Have you had any interactions with homeschooling parents or children? How did it go?

In Kewanee, we are fortunate to have a fairly large homeschooling co-op which utilizes the YMCA for frequent gatherings to socialize the kids to give them a physical workout and regular social opportunities.

We also have a wealth of materials at our disposal. Why, even the local dollar store has an entire section devoted to schooling.

Ironically, many of the families of children with cancer that I have counseled have benefited from the resources that I, as a non-homeschooling parent, was able to access. Children who need allogeneic (not from their own bodies) stem cell transplants are usually required to stay out of school for at least a year, as their severely compromised immune systems recover.

In essence, they have no choice. They need to be away from their peers, away from potential bacterial and viral sources. For a full year. And many of these children were not sick previously. Their cancer came on quickly and unexpectedly. Yet, with the resources that have evolved over the past decade, they are thriving and emerging from their immunocompromised state equal to their public schooled friends.

Do I think I am a better teacher than the highly-educated and dedicated teachers in our school district? Not necessarily - but I do know that I know my children better than anyone else. I am also eternally grateful that my children are not sick enough to be removed from school - though it happened to us when Henry was an infant. His respiratory problems were so severe, his pediatrician told us that we needed to hire a nanny vs. putting him in daycare. 

One other thing that I feel confident in saying is that I do know that I can hone in on their individual needs and interests better than anyone else.

I've known several homeschooling families. All of the children from these environments were fared very well in life.

Back in my day, homeschooling was considered an "alternative lifestyle".  One of my friends came from a highly religious family, however, after entering public school in her freshman year of high school, she maintained her high moral standards, despite a fair amount of teasing from her peers. Today, she is a proud homeschooling parent herself. Who'd have known??

Today, there are thousands of resources available to parents interested in this option. You can purchase homeschooling (also called "unschooling") software for your child where they can learn everything from the basics required to keep them up-to-date with your state's reqs to religious cultures, political science and even any foreign language you like, all thru the aid of a virtual teacher!

The educational part is not what concerns me most - it's the socialization. I know that both of my kids, both daycare and preschool kids, desire and need interaction with other children. I can imagine that it is very easy to get absorbed into a "dysfunctional routine" where the kids are isolated from their public or private school counterparts, spending their days in PJs instead of getting dressed per usual, eating lunches on the run, watching cartoons during "recess". And, a parent who craves convenience, is particularly prone to developing this routine for their child. I do realize that homeschooling is an incredibly important responsibility.

Again, thank goodness for the homeschooling co-ops.

So, those are my thoughts. This is after a very bad day with my son, where I questioned whether I even knew who he was...

Happy weekend to you!