02.07
So, I started out the other day giving all the reasons we do homeschool. But, I intended to give you a heads up on why you might want to think about it long and hard before taking the plunge. Many homeschooling families are kinda like we were. Too naive about the crap your gonna take from people to be concerned about it. We would have still done it anyway for all the reasons I gave last time. But you do have to get ready for being treated differently by a lot of people. You also have to be willing to be under government scrutiny to a larger degree than your public school brethren. So here are the things you can expect to deal with if you do decide to homeschool:
- People are Mean – One thing you will constantly deal with is people saying things to you that they would never say under other circumstances. Things like, “I knew some homeschoolers in my neighborhood that were wierdos”, or “My kids are too social for that”, or “I think it’s important for kids to be around other kids their age.”, or my personal favorite “You know that woman in Texas that killed her kids was a homeschooler.” We never tell anyone we homeschool unless they ask us specifically where our kids go to school. It’s to avoid crap like this. All those statements are thinly veiled attempts to impune us as parents and make us look like we are either depriving our children or we’re wierdos. For some reason people feel very free to slam you to your face as soon as they find out that you homeschool. Even when they are the ones that drew it out of you. Get ready to be constantly accused of not socializing your kids. That’s a whole other blog post in itself.
- Cost – There are those out there that will tell you that all you need in order to homeschool is a library card. I won’t say that can’t be done, because it can, but it’d be pretty tough. The reality for most is that they are going to need resources like curriculum, field trips, homeschool group dues, HSLDA membership dues, etc. You can expect those things to cost you about $500 per year. That’s really not too bad when you think about it. Of course, you get no tax breaks or anything like that (that turbotax question about “did you use out of pocket money for classroom education expenses?” doesn’t apply to you, only unionized teachers) even though you are paying taxes to public schools.
- Government Harassment – Many homeschool groups (ours included) require that it’s members belong to the HSLDA. That would be the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. Basically, when you homeschool your kids, your local schoolboard instantly becomes your enemy and you have to actually pre-defend yourself from anything and everything some social worker or truancy officer decides to dream up. Don’t belive me? Just peruse the list of issues that the HSLDA has to fight on behalf of it’s members on a daily basis. Most consist of overzealous school administrators who don’t know their own state’s education laws. It’s gotten to the point that just mentioning “let me call my HSLDA rep and have them talk to you” is enough to convince them they are wrong and leave. If you don’t mind having to retain a lawyer just so you don’t get harassed by your local school officials then go ahead and homeschool.
- Personal Reasons – I think, the other reasons would fit more into a personal nature. Homeschooling takes patience. If you are easily frustrated or exasperated by children then you might want to check yourself. That’s not to say you can’t do it, but just realize that teaching children is frustrating sometimes. Your husband will need to keep his cellphone ready to get some calls from you and help you get through those pull your hair out times. It also takes organization. If you are disorganized then you need to avail yourself of some of the good tools out there to help you, and of course join a homeschool group that is strict enough to keep you in check. A good group will require mandatory teachers meetings, progress reports, etc.
The last one is the most common reason that people give for not schooling at home. They list some personal reasons that they don’t feel they can. I’m not a homeschool Nazi. I think some of those reasons are actually legit. I’ve heard stories of people that just didn’t have enough personal initiative to pull it off and end up hurting their child’s education in the process. They get them home and then just fail to follow through on the actual teaching process. But I’ve also heard tons of stories of people who took the risk, not thinking they could do it, and turning out to be wonderful at it. Those people are usually the most vocal about anyone being able. The bottom line is: count the cost, but don’t be afraid to step out on faith. We do that with plenty of other big life decisions. Why not this?
