Homeschooling

My sister Adrianne has been juggling the thought of whether or not she should home school her little boy Will next year. She wrote this post below on her blog: 

"Will you be sending Will to Kindergarten this fall? What do you think about home schooling or have you thought about home schooling?

This question comes at the perfect time because this has been on my mind for a long time. I have a short answer and a long answer. The short answer is that I don't know if I will be sending Will to school or if I will home school him. Now, if that's all the answer you want, you can stop reading but if you want to know my reasons you can keep reading but it might be kind of lengthy.

I love the idea of home school. I like the idea of having my kids near me and being a part of their learning. I also like having control over what they will be learning and being able to help them learn on their own time. I'm not stoked about the idea of propaganda being taught to my kids. Nor am I interested in them coming home chanting some silly Barack Obama jingle.

Exhibit A

Exhibit A is from about six months ago. Mike, for curiosity sake, gave Will these worksheets and some Good-N-Plenty to see if he could add. He got them all right with minimal help from us. He has since gotten much better at writing his numbers and can whip right through a worksheet without any help from us.

Will is also beginning to read. He is not a super great reader yet but he can read almost all of Hop On Pop by himself. He also has a little notebook like this that he spells his own words on. I also find little notes written to me all over the house. I can't make out everything he is trying to spell in the notes but the majority I can. I am just amazed at how his learning has just exploded.

I asked him why he wanted to go to school and he told me he is "just so excited to learn all about my body and the earth and space." I didn't have the heart to tell him that he would not be learning those things for a long, long time--most definitely not in kindergarten where he will instead be sitting in a seat most of the day learning a letter a week. Of course, he might also learn his colors, shapes, and numbers--things he knew when he was two and a half.

I need to interject here that I do not expect my children to be the smartest or to learn quickly. It wasn't until I was in my last year of college that I was finally diagnosed with a learning disability. I can tell you that I cried a lot of tears before that diagnosis finally came and I berated myself for not being smart. But I was really proud of myself for graduating from high school with a 3.98 GPA and even more proud of myself for graduating from BYU.

All I care about is that they work hard and that they love learning. I don't want to see Will so excited to go to school and learn only to watch him a few months later causing problems or hating school because he is BORED OUT OF HIS MIND.

My biggest concern with homeschooling is just that it is such an overwhelming thing to do. I already feel close to being sent to the looney bin and I think having to have my kids with me every minute of the day just might be the thing to send me there.

So, the decision is still not made. I am talking to moms that home school to find out how they feel about it and I am reading books and doing research so hopefully very soon I will find an answer and be confident it is the right one. The good thing about this is that if I choose to send Will to school and he isn't growing, I can always take him out.

What are your thoughts on home schooling?"

So, with this post on her blog, she got 25 comments. 25 Comments! Wow! All sides were good arguments. You can read them by clicking HERE. 

So, do you  home school  your kids?