"Aren't you worried about socialization?" That is one of the benefits to homeschooling! I don't have worry about government control! (when this get a look of confusion I continue with) Well, "socialization" means "to place under government control". I am not interested in that. "You are turning your back on the school system. Your children should be in the system and you should work to better the schools." The school system will never give up standardized testing and will never adopt an experiential system of education. There fore my reform efforts would be pointless, meanwhile my children would be labeled and lost in "the system". They get my money every year but they can not have my children.
I have already told my family that if and when this job comes through, that will mean major changes for my family, which will more than likely mean they will either be homeschooled, cyber-schooled, or, more likely, a combination of the two. Good thing I have been reading up so when my family starts flipping out I will have all the answers for them ... lol You are all wonderful. I have learned more by coming here than you will ever know ... Thank you. BeckyB
This is too funny, My 3 yo mouths' everything. I am always telling him to get things out of his mouth. One time he got really really sick, I told him he felt bad because he licks the shopping cart. Now when he looks like he is going to lick or put something in his mouth I tell him it will make him sick again. He tells everybody when we leave the grocery store that he was good and didn't lick the cart. :lol:
Ok, I just have to say that the port-a-potty comment cracked me up! SO true! And I wanted to say that I totally agree with your viewpoint on the private schools, because that was exactly our experience! My third grader was being bullied, but the administration looked the other way because the bully's parents were close friends with the owner of the school. You should've heard the arguments they gave us against homeschooling when we told them that we were pulling him out of the school (after a couple of months of trying to resolve the issue!) They insisted that "isolating" Zach would only cause him more damage, etc...that we were showing him that the way to deal with a problem was to run away. And they even had the audacity to say that it would SO negatively influence Zach that he would become an adult who couldn't hold down a job. :x DH and I just said that we didn't agree. Because we knew that their only interest was in losing his tuition payment. If they were interested in the CHILD, they would've taken the bullying seriously. Oh, and about the gang issue. Friends of ours have a first grader who was "gang-banged" at public school. Six boys of a different race beat up their son in the bathroom. When people go on about how brave we are to HS, I tell them sincerely, IMO, there is no other option here. Kari Mom of Zach (9) and Eli (5)
P.s. I forgot to say.... Though I wish my son had never gone through that bullying experience, we're all loving HS so much that I'm almost glad it happened. It was what we needed to nudge us to actually DO what we'd felt God had been leading us to do for some time. Silly me for wasting so much time thinking there was no way I could handle HS! :?
You guys are funny! I don't get a lot of negative comments actually. I do get the "how can you stand to be around your kids all day!" LOL..that one always makes me laugh. I say, "people consider the adoption of a dog more seriously than having a kid. Some will say they have not time to give dog because they are never home. So..if dogs went to public school you would get one?" A friend of mine came up to visit. She used to homeschool her son. She got a divorce and could no longer homeschool. She asked me "so you still homeschool? How is that going...you like it". She said that in a way that made me think I was crazy for homeschooling...you know the tone of the what she said. I replied simply, "It is going great. We all love it!" Then I changed the subject. You see, she was looking for a negative response because it would ease her own desire of wanting a life like mine. I know there is nothing more she wants then to stay home for her kids. I think many who approach us do so out of insecurity. They are hoping to find a flaw so they can feel better about themselves. Of course, this does not apply to everyone....but it does apply to some. In that instance I try to be short, positive, and smile. I am not going to hang out my dirty laundry to feed some insecurity but I am not going to make her feel bad either.
Yup, that's what my 8 year old says about her two teenage siblings. She calls them bullies when they tease her about silly things. I say, why go to public school? You have built-in bullies!
Amy, I love that response. I will keep that in mind. On a serious note, it boggles my mind when moms say 'OMG, how can you stand to be around your kids all day? It would drive me insane!' I have heard that countless times over the years and I always get a twinge in my heart. Usually its said humorously, but for some reason it touches a nerve with me, and I don't think its funny.
Mom_2_3, I feel the same way. I had a grandma (?) come up to me while I was loading up my kids one summer morning around 10 oclock, and she made a "wow their really late for school" comment, and I told her I homeschooled, and we had a pleasant exchange and she ended by saying, "Well, I couldn't do that. There's no way I could be around them all day everyday." All I could say is, "oh..." and she said goodbye and left. Yea, I need a break from the house and I usually spend one day a week with my parents at their house, but to say that you can't wait to get rid of them, or just can't stand to be around them for extended periods is saddening.
personally if someone ever said how can you stand to be around the kids all day I would just retort with"how can you stand to leave your children with complete strangers all day?" and leave it at that. give them something to think about. The worse I get is "how can you know what to teach them if you did not go to University and learn to be a teacher? " I usually tell them I have had some college teacher training but that all it takes is a great curriculum and a super teacher book!
It upsets me that so many feel their child is a burden and a nuisance that is driving them insane. Sadly many of them also complain about the unpleasant side effects of ps. When it comes to comebacks I'm usually muted by not wanting to be heard talking negatively about ps. I try to stick to the positive things about our hs experience so far. Q: Are you going to hs all of them? A: No, only every second one. Jk A: I'm gonna flip a coin to decide which get hs'd and which get ps'd. A: Are you going to ps all of yours? Q: What are you going to do when they need a science lab? A: Buy one on online. Q: Are you going to hs again next year? A: Yes, are you going to ps again next year?
I was thinking of something similar: "Why would you want to send your child to public/private school?" "Aren't you worried about their socialization in public school?" "What about the holes in their education in public school? (we all know they are there)
I know a mum who tries to cover the holes by making her children do 1-2 extra curricular activities 6 days per week and the 7th day is for socializing. She and the kids are exhausted but at least they're well rounded :lol:
Funny enough just earlier this evening for some reason currently unknown to me I was thinking about the fact that we aren't constantly burnt out from busy-ness because we school in about half a day, spend the rest of the day socializing with close in age siblings and sometimes friends or cousins, and don't have two hours of homework to do every night on top of extracurricular classes and sports and such. I cannot even imagine living a life like that. It burns me too when people comment that they couldn't stand to be around their kids like that. I always wonder why they had them then? It's like getting a kitten because it's cute and then getting rid of it once it's older and annoying (my mom does this, regularly). I usually keep my mouth shut because I don't have anything nice to say to those people. Sure I need time away from my kids and I make sure I take it on the weekends and they have an early enough bedtime that I usually get at least an hour or two child free at nights.
