Restart

Am I the only person that actually starts something with good intentions just to a month later give up and stop doing? I hope I'm not. haha. I'm going to start this blogging thing again. This year's start thing is Home School. Lately I have been thinking about home schooling Ambrielle. I've had questions, concerns and doubts about doing it. But I know I can do it. It's just down to sticking to it. That is my issue, I get so excited about doing something then after the "honeymoon" I fizzle out and stop doing it. I then restart a couple months or years later. I'm hoping this homeschooling won't end like that but it might. There is just no way to tell, I'm taking everything a day at a time.

Reasons I want to Homeschool

   1.       First and foremost in my mind, is God. In the last month or so I have been feeling that He is calling me to do this. I feel that is his desire and wish for our family. I want Ambrielle to know Him on a personal level, the way I have yet to know Him. It will not only be for her benefit but also our families because as I teach her about His love and greatness I will also being learning about His love and greatness, something I have yet to really do. I also feel that this is the best way for our family (Lucas, Ambrielle and I) to become closer and learn to be a family.

   2.       Curriculum: I want to be the one in control of what she learns not some education board that is only looking to please a law or test on what THEY think is important. Most public schools only teach to the required state board tests. I know that Kansas is not the worst at this but it is becoming the norm all across the nation (Common Core Requirements, which Kansas IS a common core state now).

Most states will have an emphasis on two subjects: Language Arts and Math. They will have little emphasis on Science, Social Studies or arts of any kind. I am not at all implying that Language Arts and Math are not important, what I am meaning is I feel that all the subjects should be given EQUAL attention and then let the CHILD decide where they want to learn more on a subject.  This is a way she can learn what we feel is important for her to succeed to be a bright and caring person along with learning more on things interest or will interest her.

  3.       Class Supervision: The teacher is not going to be around to hear all the conversations going on in the classroom.

In a classroom of 24 students where a teacher has 6 groups of 4 children, the teacher could be busy assisting Group A, group B could be busy goofing off and group C could be talking about things that are inappropriate. The teacher will just tell group B and C to knock it off and get back to work. There is the chance that the teacher will not guide group C into knowing why those things are inappropriate. The teacher may only want the students to stop talking about it and the students will just to continue the conversation at Recess when the teacher is not around. My issue is there is no one to  “Train up a child in the way he should go…” – Proverbs 22:6 They will stop them from talking about these things but there won’t be any meaningful talk about the right and wrong.

Also, in the public school atmosphere the words God, Bible, Amen and Bless you are frowned upon but it is the norm for the students to talk about inappropriate things.

  4.       Pace of learning: I recently watched a video from the Common Core Standard Initiative. The video explained that with the standards a student in LA will be learning the same thing that a student in New York is learning. It also explains how if the student doesn’t quite grasp the lesson they will be on a platform until they understand. This is all good in theory but what about reality?

I will admit I have not been in a classroom since 2009 so it may have changed in the last 5 years. I may not ever see inside a Common Core class room either. I can see where it may cause an issue for students that understand the curriculum immediately. The teacher will have them all do the same assignment but each student works at their own pace. What happens when a student that understands the material is ready to move on? Is that student going to have wait for the class to catch up to them?

Also, I feel that P.S. is mostly a baby sitter. A child gets done with their work, in a classroom they have to wait for the rest of the class. In H.S. a child can just move on to the next subject and be done sooner.

  5.       Strangers: Every year she will have to get used to a new teacher. Each teacher will have a different style. Each teacher is a human

6.       My own P.S. experience: I would never want to change everything about the way I grew up but I would want to change some things.

a.       In almost all of my classes I was one of the first ones done with my assignments. After I put my work into the turn in tray I would then go back to my seat and read a book.

I have also recently watched a video of a girl that her parents decided to take her out of P.S. and start to home school. She was like me; she would turn in the assignment and just have to wait until everyone else was done before the teacher would move on to the next subject. She talked about how one day she was able to read the first 200 pages of The Prisoner of Azkaban before coming home for the day.

b.      I do not want Ambrielle introduced to things too early for her to cope with. Inappropriate talk from other students and sex education.

                                                               i.      I remember when I was in 4th grade the boys went to one classroom and the girls to another. There they explained to us the future changes of our bodies. Yes I know this is a great thing to know but is 4^th grade really the right time for MOST kids to know this? Also in 5^th grade, we started to talk about sex education. The teachers told us about STDs, STIs, pregnancy and some protection.

                                                             ii.      I know that this is all needed for our overly sexual world but I prefer to be the one to explain the birds and bees to her not some teacher reading out of a text book. I want her to understand that the changes she will face are all normal but the sex and the after effects part should be saved for when she is older.

                                                            iii.      I feel that introducing these ideas to kids too young only makes them more curious and want to explore the topic more. This could be in research or “research” with themselves or others.