Do you ever feel completely inadequate?

I'm chiming in a bit late due to my work schedule..but yes I get "The LOOK" all the time...I got it just the other day at the store too...the cashier assumed I was homeschooling because I bought lots of workbooks and school supplies and told me..."do yourself a favor and send the kid to school..they'll be a lot better off" I just smiled, paid and left. Yes I do feel inadequate almost every day..at least until my child comes to me and does something that I"m sure he wouldn't be doing now if I sent him to PS. I just keep going because I know I'm doing the best for my children and that The Lord is guiding me all along the way..and of course the lovely ladies here are a BIG HELP!!!!! I so couldn't do this without them!!!!!

 

I am currently working on a short "answer" to the look, and the questions.
As I am only hs one out of four... It is difficult to answer, especially without saying stuff I do not want ds to worry about...
And there are sooooo many reasons.
I have been just smiling and asking the "asker" (or looker) to relate a positive experience they had in middle school. (hardly anyone can; but all have horror stories.)

 

I have had my days of not thinking I can do this. I just had it the other day. I get on my woe is me, what was I thinking. Then something awsome happens with the kids and it's like wow, I really can do this. I have to keep focusing on the big picture but some days it's hard. I get the look but not lately since my daughter did good on her test. It has seemed to keep some family members quiet.

Art and Music are way informal here. I happen to love music. I can play clarinet and sax and I am learning the keyboard. I would like to get a flute and drums oh and the trumpet. My husband is going start back at learning the guitar. He had just gotten them before he was shipped off. He loves to draw so he will do that when he gets home. I remember in elementry school we sang commercial jingles for our concert. Here at home we sing songs off the Wee Sing CDs and our hymnal.

 

The two teacher cousins that I mentioned in my original post both have 10 year old daughters, and both are, of course, in ps. I noticed when they were at my house yesterday that neither of those TEN year old girls want to act like little girls. Neither wanted to play with my 7 year old dd, who loves to play with any and all girls close to her age and will play anything from Barbies to board games. One hung out with my 10yo ds and the other hung out alone with her mother's cell phone, sending text messages all day. :roll:

Oh, the one that hung out with my ds used to have such a wonderful imagination. She LOVED to play dress up and she had a huge collection of Polly Pockets, etc. It was either last summer or the summer before, can't remember for sure, that she cleared out all of her Polly Pockets and "little girl" toys. She was either 8 or 9 years old. She does have her OWN cell phone though. :roll:

I want my dd to be a little girl for as long as she can. I've noticed that little girls are trying to be teens earlier and earlier these days. I think our culture pushes it on them too. That's one reason I'm glad she isn't around a lot ps peers. I can understand a 12 or 13 girl wanting to get rid of toys and grow up some, but an 8 or 9, or even 10 year old. Why? What's the rush?

 

Yes - I get "the look" and usually comments that cause me to lash out at my poor husband after my mother visits. HIS mom has learned to keep her mouth shut because she caught me on a bad day - made a comment (about my son's weight) I snapped back and then she wanted to take her ball and go home. My DH made me apologize to her to keep the family sane during their visit.

Oh both my kids have cell phones though. LOL - they wanted them - they pay for them But they are seriously locked down - no texting and they can only call and receive calls from whoever I put on their contact list. For things like the 4-H fair it's invaluable to be able to find them (too many walkie-talkies around to find a channel no one is using).

It takes awhile to ignore "the look" or the comments....but I do think you kinda harden up to it.

Oh and Becky - the whole "real music teacher" COME ON CHICK!!! LOL...... my BIL majored in History (is awesome with it btw) and taught MATH for a year!! He STINKS at math!! This year we are going to do music appreciation - I'm loading classical music up on their iPods and I want to know how a song makes them feel or what they thought of it. Same with some Art stuff....

 

Sorry about the cell phone comment. I see the value of cell phones when you have busy kids, etc. My kids are getting their own for their 16th birthdays, when they start driving. What I meant by that was that both of these 10 year old girls choose to talk/play on cell phones rather than interact with their relatives. The one that text messaged all day is from a different state. We had not seen her in 4 years yet she sat around texting nearly the whole day. The other one will do that at family get-togethers too. It just bothers me to see that, but maybe that is just me.

Boy, I really got off topic, didn't I?

 

1boy1girl, my kids dont have cells either, my dh and I just got our first cells this year as I am off with kids and ladies ministry and kids club stuff and he is working in two cities and the company he works for bought his phone... we see how we as adults need them, and as my ds gets another job to pay for it we will give him first month of a Metro PCS ( can I say that?) cause it has unlimited for cheap price and is geared for teens.
Ds17 will be going to private and jr college this fall plus he will go on a trip with his grandparents so I am hoping he gets a job before then... so he can have one when he is running around.
I am not about to pay for my kids cell cause I have seen the parents who have..2-3000 dollars of over charges is just too much!
If they can pay for it themselves I am fine with it though cause it teaches responsiblitiy...
Now ONE more blessing of this homeschool thing is that we know where our children are!
Usually that is near by where we are so no worries as many parents who send thier kids to ps.
So now to get back to topic... I am one to write up things to remind myself of the good stuff.. so liek th thread with what to say when, I think we should write up our favorite things about homeschooling oru kids andpost those things on our mirrors and bulletin boards!
then we will not feel so inadequate !

 

Oh no - I am NOT a proponent of cell phones for kids!! Mine work for it and pay their own bill - period. LOL - and I block everything from it (to their dismay they have no games on it).... so don't worry.....I'm not a big fan - but my daughter can call her friend who also has one and the same service so no minute are used

 

Teacher family

I never had that problem. All but one member of my extended family were or still are teachers. In my family you got the look if you did not teach. My husband was the only non teacher, and in our get togethers he used to make deflamatory comment about teachers and gleefully sit back and listen to the reaction. You can imagine what that was like.

 

I'm dreading "the look" when we announce that we're pulling my DSD out of PS. I'm sure we'll get it from my parents, who think it's something weird we do in our religion (a lot of people of our religion homeschool, and my parents are a different religion). I'm sure we'll get it from my DH's mom and stepdad who wanted her in PS only because she was going to the PS by them and they got to see her often. We'll get it from DSD's mom and her grandparents over there.

I guess we'll just be strong. And you can be strong too! You're doing the right thing for your kids. The POPULAR thing is not always the RIGHT thing.

 

My final word on the music issue is I want a person with a music degree teaching her music. Her art teacher has an art and teaching degree, and her one gym teacher is a personal trainer. I want the best for her, and I see no crime in that. If I can't teach something properly, I want someone who can.

 

Chiming in late, have not read the other posts.................

People don't like it when others go against the grain, don't join the other *sheeple* and don't conform. They feel as though *your* decision to hs is somehow a personal reflection on them or their decision to send their dc to public school.

I personally didn't care if someone didn't approve of our decision to home school. I figured that they will see by how my children are educated that our decision was the correct one. My ds' just graduated from high school, Abeka Academy with 4.0 GPA, we must have been doing something right!

Keep your chin up and stick to your guns and do will be just fine.

 

You just hang in there girl!! Remember, God gave YOU those children to teach and raise. It's you and your husband's responsibility no one else. They can LOOK until their eyes are crossed! It's your choice, not theirs. I come from a family full of PS teachers, they can be very condescending. They tend to place success on how fast you can answer a question and how many degrees you hold. They are always drilling my poor son. He is a very bright boy, but has trouble processing verbal commands. So they just assume he's not being taught anything when he can't answer their stupid questions. It's very irritating. But I just keep reminding myself that they don't understand, and so they act ignorant. My mil has a PHD, and my husband says it stand for Piled Higher and Deeper. Just keep loving your kids and teaching them the best you can, they will be fine.

 

THat is awesoem that you have such qualified persons around you!
We were blessed with a Band teacher joining our Church school so we are able to utilize him for dds piano.
I agree I would rather have someone who knows what they are doing becasue to me thats the reason to home school to give them the best!
You get the GO GIRL award from me today Becky!

 

Yeah, TM, and when Jeanne's ready for Home EC I'm calling Martha Stewart!!

 

I can understand that. My dh doesn't have a degree in music, but has been playing guitar for something like 15 yrs. So, he's the one teaching Music Theory, Guitar, etc. (all that technical stuff). I take care of music history & appreciation, and we'll find a teacher for Piano (that's assuming, of course, that my mom ever gives us the pian she's been promising me for over a year).
I teach them Art. The only part of Art that I'll get them help from someone else is drawing. I can't draw. I can do just about anything with art & crafts, but not that. I was always really into Art growing up, and it's been a hobby of mine forever. I can paint, work with pottery, beading, calligraphy, make paper, origami, photography, etc. But, I couldn't draw a decent picture to save my save my life. I'll probably sign them up for classes at the art museum for drawing.
In answer to the original question, yes I sometimes feel inadequate. It generally is just because of me. I start to wonder if I'm really giving them the best education. All I have to do, though, is look at how much they're doing & how far they've come. I hear from my nieces how bad the ps around here are & I know that my kids are doing so much better than they would be if they were in ps. Luckily moat of our family is openly supportive & the rest keep their mouths shut (so I really have no idea what they think). I think my family has learned not to tell me that they think I'm doing something wrong.

 

I'm new here, but I can totally relate to the awful looks that some folks give. Last year when we started our HS adventure we received no support from our families. My own Mom has repeatedly announced that this is "too hard for the girls and me" and that they "deserve to be in PS" Finally one day I had enough, I posted a large bright yellow sign on our door stating some simple HS facts and the main reasons that we choose to do this. No one says anything anymore. My neighbors daughter even said it was cool.

 

That Rocks! :lol:

Welcome!