It's one thing when you get criticized for your decision to homeschool from strangers or people you know but not very well. But what about when your close family or friends do not support your decision to homeschool?
It's hard and it hurts when those who you care about the most cannot respect your parenting decisions. A lot of times, people just do not want to understand and accept what is different. They think because they went to Public School or perhaps even teach in one that that is the best way for children to be educated. They think that because PS teachers go to school and get a degree they are better qualified to teach. They may believe the lie that if you homeschool your child will not get enough "socialization" and will not be able to function in "the real world." Even when you try to talk and explain your reasons for homeschooling they may get angry, tell you your crazy, or try to convince you that you are incapable of teaching your own children.
The Public School system is NOT the best way for children to be educated. In fact I truly believe that it is the worst possible learning environment for many reasons, but that is a different blog post entirely. The idea that homeschooles live a sheltered existence with no outside activities is absolutely ridiculous. Homeschooling allows for plenty of positive social, real life experiences. You are more than qualified and capable of teaching your children. But, the truth is there will be people that you cannot convince of that and some of them may be the ones closest to you.
So what can you do? Do NOT seek those people out looking for support or a listening ear about homeschooling. Seek out those who will encourage or give you support. If you don't know any other homeschoolers, look in your area for a local support group or even an online network. You will need a support system. Don't get into debates or spend your time trying to justify or convince them you made the right choice. Some people may come around when they see how well things are going, but others will not. Sometimes you just have to agree to disagree and spend your time talking about other things.
The bottom line is this. YOU are the parent. God has entrusted you with the raising and care of the children He blessed you with. You have to make the decisions that you think are best for your children. Other people may not agree with your decision, but they don't have to. It's YOUR decision and you made it for a reason. Stay strong, have faith, and be encouraged! Many other homeschoolers have gone through the same thing. Personally, some of my family and friends came around. Some didn't. But, I know to the bottom of my heart that our decision to homeschool was one of the best decisions we have ever made!
I've enjoyed reading your blog so far, it's been fun! I find it enjoyable to see different perspectives on education. I have to agree very strongly that the american school system, and to a degree colleges as well, fail horribly in their effort to educate us growing up.
ReplyDeleteI see it in everything from methodology to the fact that textbooks have their content and facts, or lack thereof, changed, edited, or flat out removed, based on who is publishing them, politics or who has power over certain companies and the like.
It's eye opening to pull books on something like history that were published in different decades over the last century and compare them to each other on certain topics and events!
My step-brother and I were originally going to public school. I finished junior high (I'm older) and then our mother decided that we were going to private school. It's sort of a bit of twisted humor looking back now... She actually brought the subject up and said we had a choice, thinking for some reason that we would want to go to private school (which was started by our church), but after we told her we wanted to go to public school (i was really looking forward to highschool!) she then informed us we were going anyway wether we liked it or not! (Lol)
I think living out in the country I suffered worse for it than I would have had we lived in the city. It was a small school and there was virtually no peer interaction; I could count the kids in my age range on my hands, so basically the only interaction outside of that was church. To be honest it left me somewhat socially retarded... At least with dealing with people socially or in personal relationships in my age range. Most of my friends wound up being men and women that had at least twenty years on me. That was fine for work, but when it came to relating to my peers, dating (groaning here) and the like I was either clueless or a babe in the woods, so to speak!
I liked the educational options outside of the public school system but it had a huge down side, for me anyway. My brother was able to finish out his last few years in public school. (The school had closed)
I ran across another roadblock a few years down the line when I applied for a federal job; the school wasn't TEA accredited. (Texas Education Association) they had a huge book to look up non-state schools in, and mine wasn't listed! So I STILL had to go back and get a G.E.D.!! So now I have a diploma and a G.E.D., lol!
To be honest my twenties had a lot of miserable spots due to going to private school and sometimes I still get mad at my parents (yeah, I know thats bad) when I think about it.
Anyway that's just my experience, I know a lot of folks have had good experiences. I'm curious what kind of social interaction your teens have; socialization in general, dating etc.
I was reading further down and you were talking about the online writing course and that sounded pretty neat! Has your oldest thought about taking some college classes online? I decided to go back to college in the recent past and it was really nice to ge able to take a lot of general classes online instead of having to drive fourty minutes each way in traffic. The teachers, however, were as different as salt and pepper when it came to how they managed the classes, some were great and others I wanted to throw the monitor out in the front yard to use for brick tossing practice! ;)