Homeschooling: Mom Talk

Homeschooling, like most things, is a personal decision each parent will make. Most families don't have the luxury of the option. Those who do should seriously consider it.

Socialization is one of the main excuses I hear from people who are anti-homeschooling. I think that's a bunch of hooey. Children who have brothers and sisters must learn how to be part of a family, to take turns and to be considerate. Those are incredible socialization skills.

Also, there are lots of ways kids can learn to be social outside the home. Team sports, group activities, music lessons are all ways to be part of a community. How easily we overlook church activities and volunteerism as social structure.

When my nephew started kindergarten, he was adding and subtracting. On his first report card, the teacher told my sister that the school was proud to announce he could recognize his name. Ya think?

There are lots of great reasons, just like the one my sister faced, for choosing to learn yer kids at home. There are so many children who don't have the basics when they enter kindergarten. At the same time, so many are more advanced. Teachers face an enormous challenge of keeping everyone engaged.

Smart kids don't usually have it better in a public school setting. They get bored easily and find themselves in trouble.

There are religious reasons, too. A mom just told me she homeschooled her gaggle because she wanted them to learn her religion. She has a large family, so those kids definitely learned how to be good social citizens.

We probably won't homeschool our children. We are lucky enough to live near a great school with small classroom sizes. Then again, once we get started, if it's not the right fit for our children, I won't have any problem keeping them home.

Personally, I don't know what all the fuss is about homeschooling. I've already been told by relatives that I better not.

"You're not going to do that are you?," they said, looking down their noses.

I don't get that automatic mentality. Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. Each kid is different. Each school is different. Each situation is different.

As I've told my relatives, they've already had their chance to screw up their kids. This is my turn to screw up mine. Does it really matter where they get screwed up?