Believe it or Not

Having had kids in public school, I understand both sides of the public school v. homeschool debate. The boys were blessed with teachers, for the most part, that cared about their students, classroom atmosphere, learning new techniques, and wanting the best for the student and parent. They were not a reason for homeschooling. Those teachers were the reason deciding to homeschool was difficult. Knowing that Large loved most of his teachers so much and enjoyed their attention for six years, that Medium only got to spend time with a few, and that Small only had a semester with one of the best still makes me sad. Those teachers warm my heart when I think of them. They are doing their part to educate the future generations, using the tools that they have been taught themselves, and within the constantly changing rules and guidelines they have to follow.


It is those rules, guidelines, and other governmental crapola that is, in my mind, working against teachers. Making test scores the ultimate goal, attaching pay raises to test scores...it isn't right, and it doesn't work. Where else in society are people regulated to rooms based on their age and not their intelligence level? What profession has employees sitting in offices doing work based not on their ability, but their age. What business gives the hired hands standardized fill-in-the-dot tests and punishes their boss if scores are low, even if profits (actual learning) and employee contentment (student happiness) are high?


I love reading Deb's blog, Not Inadequate.  She's a funny, quirky, homeschool mom who is currently living out of various Vacation Rentals By Owner, while travelling the US, giving her kids a real education by reading about geoducks (snicker snicker) because they saw one in the Pacific Northwest, or "researching" bison by watching them walk down the road near Yellowstone. One of her blogs included a video that I absosmurfly loved because it clearly and entertainingly shows why the current education system doesn't work. I unabashedly copied her, including it in this blog for my three many readers to enjoy.




Sir Stephen, I love your accent and ability to draw more than a stick person.


I'm not saying I will never put my kids back into public school, because I don't know what the future holds for my family. We decided to try a semester of homeschooling, and are all so hooked as of now we have most of our books to start the next "year" at any time. :-)