Homeschooling

Lately I have been researching the idea of homeschooling. Maybe this is strange coming from someone with a teaching credential but really I think it makes sense. I have taught in the public school system, I have seen how poorly the Education system is run. I feel like it is my responsibility to provide a better education for my kids. However, the idea of homeschooling is fairly foreign to me.

Now that I've begun searching I have realized that CT is a very home-school friendly state. Homeschooling is "allowed" and very little is required to prove that homeschooling is going on within a family. There are many groups that meet so that their children can have the social interaction that seems to be the "problem" with homeschooling.

Whenever I tell anyone that I'm thinking of homeschooling they always respond with their worries about whether my kids would get enough social interaction. They automatically assume that the type of social interaction that occurs at public school is good....Is it?

In public school social interaction results in drugs, smoking, pre-marital sex, gangs, fights, drinking, skipping classes....the list goes on. I don't think I'll be too sad to have my kids miss out on any of those things.

That being said I do think it will be a struggle to ensure that my children take part in activities outside the home: swimming lessons, soccer teams, art and music lessons, and meeting with other homeschoolers will have to make up a large portion of our time.

One important, novel idea, that I picked up from a homeschooling book that I checked out of the library was the high value of having your children play with other children of different ages. Patience and understanding can be learned from playing with younger children and new skills and expertise can be learned from playing with older children. This is something that is not acceptable in public school. Children are grouped by grade and are expected to play with those in their age group. This results in children looking to their peers for guidance in life issues, which leads to peer pressure, bad judgement, and devaluing of parental values. Children should turn to those older and more experienced to help them make big life decisions. Homeschooling helps children become friends with children of many different ages and provides the time to connect with parents so that they can be the primary values setters.