I wrote this letter to my family today and thought you all might find it interesting too…….
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Since our homeschooling is probably the topic of conversation among
many of our family members I thought that I would just send this to
you all.
I know that my whole family (and Matt’s) are not terribly supportive
of us homeschooling our children for various reasons. And if I really
wanted to debate it with anyone I would have a good answer for
everything that one can think about being wrong with homeschooling. I
choose not to debate it with anyone. I can’t change anyone else’s
mind, nor do I really care to. We don’t homeschool our kids for anyone
else’s benefit. We do what we think is best for our children and we
answer only to ourselves and to them. It has to be mine and Matt’s
decision to do what we think is best for our kids and no one else’s.
One of our big reasons has been Matt’s work schedule. The way it has
been he wouldn’t see the kids that are in school except on weekends.
His influence and daily presence in their lives is vital and I can
site 100 studies that prove that, but, like I said, I am not going to
debate the topic.
Here is something funny about homeschooling vs. regular school –
thought you might you enjoy it (I know I did).
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On the 29th of August a Mr. Alan Brymer of Provo (and later listed as being
from Fredericksburg, Virginia), a not-yet-homeschooling-dad, wrote a letter
to the editor to the Deseret News about how he would make sure his kids were
socialized according to the current social standard.
a.. We’ve got socialization covered
When my wife and I mention we are strongly considering
home-schooling our children, we are without fail asked, “But what about
socialization?” Fortunately, we found a way our kids can receive the same
socialization that government schools provide.
On Mondays and Wednesdays, I will personally corner my son in the
bathroom, give him a wedgie and take his lunch money. On Tuesdays and
Thursdays, my wife will make sure to tease our children for not being in the
“in” crowd, taking special care to poke fun of any physical abnormalities.
Fridays will be “Fad and Peer Pressure Day.” We will all compete to
see who has the coolest toys, most expensive clothes and the loudest,
fastest and most dangerous car.
Every day, my wife and I will adhere to a routine of cursing and
swearing in the hallways and mentioning our weekend exploits with alcohol
and immorality. If our kids attempt to use the bathroom without permission,
we will punish them immediately.
And we have asked them to report us to the authorities in the event
we mention God or try to bring up morals and values.
Alan Brymer
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That being said, You will probably all be thrilled to hear that
We are actually planning on putting them all (Matthew - kindergarten, Micki,
Tristan, and Madison) into school this fall (I have told Randy, Ron,
and Mom about this already). We found what we think will be a perfect
alternative to homeschool, Noughtan K-8th grade school. It’s a country
school about 10 miles north of our house and with our kids there would
be 10 kids in the whole school. Colleen’s son Tennor is going to
go there as well and he and Tristan are the same age and good friends.
Matt’s work schedule finally has him on dayshift hours, after all these years,
he is the senior paint tech and got to choose. He chose 7am-3pm, so now
homeschooling is not the only way he will see our school age kids on weekdays.
I think homeschooling is a wonderful thing and I disagree with the reasons why
others want me to put my kids into school, but the reason why we are planning
to is because we need more time with them out of the house and more structure
in our lives, and they want to go. We always said if they wanted to go we would
let them.
Not saying that sending them to school is permanent. We believe
strongly in homeschooling and planned to do it since I was pg. with
Madison. But, we will see what the future holds.
Love ya,
Tarra