Only an Option For The Wealthy? Nonsense!

I came across this article in Newsweek about homeschooling. What I wanted to respond to was the comments.

Over and over, I saw the refrain, "Homeschooling is only a viable option for affluent, 2 parent households, because one parent needs to stay home to school the kids."

Nonsense. 

I am a single, working mother.  I homeschool.  I have made it work.  Oh, and I am far from rich.  Far, far from rich.

In today's world, I don't see any reason for a mother to have to leave her kids at home to work at a job 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.  There are too many options these days to work at home, or create a flex time position, or work graveyards. Even if Mom does have to work outside the home, with support from the community and her child care providers, she can still successfully homeschool. 

I work from home as a bookkeeper and virtual assistant.  I work outside the home a few hours a day, but not much.  Schoolwork is set the night before, and sometimes the kids stay up late in their rooms to do it, other times they get up early and get it done.  Total daily time on formal lessons?  Less than 2 hours.  We're done before lunch, and then I get to shoo them outside to play (PE!) for the rest of the day while I work.

Since I don't work outside the home every day, I don't have to drive as often, nor do I have to have expensive business clothing and shoes.  I can also plan and prepare meals, which keeps the grocery bill low.  I do work about 6 hours a day, 6 days a week. 

My son attends Cub Scouts, and my daughter is in ballet, jazz, and modern dance at a local studio.  I do the books for the studio to pay for her dance.  Both kids attend a math learning center - again, paid for with trade work (yup, I do their books too). 

We love hitting yard sales, and were delighted to find a student microscope at a yard sale for $10.  They have examined almost anything you can put on a slide and are constantly looking for new things to examine.

Kids love to learn.  They want to learn, as long as that love of learning isn't killed.  I put my focus on reading, writing, math, grammar, history, and language, and more or less get out of the way for the rest.

Khan Academy offers a huge number of no-cost videos and self-test, mostly on math and science.  I log them in and let them go to it.  They love it.

If you want to teach your kids at home, there is always an option.  Always.  It may involve some creative thinking, but there are options.

And people wonder why I homeschool....

On Friday evening:

Me: Son, you've gotta go to bed.  Daddy will be here early in the morning to pick you up.
Jared: But, can I bring my math?  I'm adding and subtracting HUNDREDS!
Me: Yes, I guess.  You may also sit at your desk and do math for a while, if you want.
Jared: Oh, thank you, Mommy, thank you. 
Me: (bemused) Do you like math?
Jared: Oh, yes, I love math!

He then dashed off to do math work.  He's well into 2nd grade math, nearly half a grade level ahead of his peers, and reads well, too.  He's competing with Mercedes to see if he can catch up with her.

And people wonder why I homeschool.  What a joy to see my son loving math, enjoying music, art, and begging for a lesson in history.  When else do I get to have the kids gathered around my computer looking at pictures of the planets and discussing the solar system?  How many 1st and 3rd graders do you know who know Copernicus and Galileo?

Why do YOU homeschool?

I'm often asked why I homeschool my kids.  I have a number of reasons. 

• I can get through the curriculum at a faster pace than the schools can, and in fewer hours per day.
• We have more flexibility in the curriculum.  My kids are learning Spanish and I'm looking into Latin.
• I can provide one-on-one instruction.
• I have a job that allows me enough flexibility that I can devote blocks of time to my kids.
• It eliminates the homework battle. No more sending the kids to school 6 hours a day to end the day with another couple of hours of homework. 2-3 hours and we're done. 
• I'm more efficient than the schools.
• My oldest child was routinely verbally abused by a teacher in the 4th grade.  As a parent, my kids aren't my job, they're my future.  I don't need to waste my time undoing the damage bad teachers cause. The teachers only have them for 9 months, anyway - I have responsibility for them for 18 years.
• We can actually discuss God and religion in the context of history (and anywhere else), providing a more complete education.  Really - you can't get through history without talking about God and religious devotion.  Religion has dramatically influenced history.
• Speaking of history - there's a whole bunch of it before the landing of the Mayflower.  My kids are as familiar with Julius Caesar as they are with George Washington.
• The kids are comfortable speaking to adults, and enjoy playing with kids of all ages.  The schools segregate by age.
• If anyone's going to brainwash my kids, it's going to be me.  I don't want the kids being taught the political nonsense du jour. 
• Mercedes and Jared are closer to each other than most siblings.  They are also close to their nephews.  We enjoy a more tightly knit family than many others.
• They actually know how to play!  I don't have to plan every spare moment for them - so they know how to entertain themselves.  Legos, reading, dolls.

The only downside I've been able to come up with is that I miss out on the full time, government provided babysitter.   Fortunately, my oldest daughter (23) is able to fill in and help out.  (She was educated in the government schools, though, so I'm still having to teach her writing and math.)

Logic at 7

I got so tickled at Jared.  Keep in mind - he's 7 years old.  Like most 7 year old boys, he's a budding paleontologist.  Dinosaurs, reptiles, and the like fascinate him. 

So he came up to me last night and asked me if crocodiles were cold-blooded.  (We had talked about cold/warm blooded animals a few nights ago.) 

Me: Yes, crocodiles are cold blooded.  They're reptiles.
Jared: Then dinosaurs are cold blooded.
Me: Well, son, we don't really know.  What makes you think that?
Jared: Mom, you know crocodiles are dinosaurs.  So, if crocodiles are cold blooded, then dinosaurs are cold blooded.
Me: I can't argue with your logic there....

although I can see the fallacy (ie - we don't know enough about all dinosaurs, some may have been related to birds rather than reptiles),  he doesn't have enough information to know it, and for 7, that's a pretty formidable use of logic!

The way this boy thinks is so interesting.  I'm loving the extra time alone with him to see how he thinks!