My kids exhibit the traits that most of the home school crowd state that their kids exhibit – wonder and awe at learning, healthy desire to go above and beyond what’s required, well-mannered, able to communicate with people younger and older than themselves, etc. They didn’t get that way because NOR in spite of their schooling. It’s been the contant involvement of both my wife and I, as well as their Sunday School and mid-week programming teachers. It takes work, but that is what you have accepted once you become a parent. You can also use all of the time outside of school as real life learning experiences as well, not just during the time that you’d be home-schooling.

Part of what Jesus calls us to do is to go out into the mission fields and help bring the good word to all. That doesn’t mean just adults – kids, even as young as Kindergarten, can lead by example and show a secular society what Jesus has called us to do. My kids use their lives as examples of what God has called them to do, and they couldn’t do that at home while being home-schooled.

1. I love the social experience my kids have had. They do not feel bound by grade, so they have friends their age, younger, older, and adults. Their social life feels a bit like an extended family. I guess it feels more like my social life does as an adult and I see them benefitting richly from it.

2. They are grounded and comfortable with themselves. They are a bit mystified by their observation that kids who attend school seem to want to all be alike. It is their experience that different and varied is normal.

3. I can tailor their education to their learning styles. They can really delve into the things that fascinate them and be efficient with the things that are less exciting for them.

4. They have free time in which to follow their passions or just be….

I guess that is just a start. It’s working well for our family, it’s hard work and we love it!

As far as isolation, I think that that is a parental decision. We are part of a group of 125 families in San Francisco. Very few of them would describe themselves as Christians and of those, there are many different practices represented. Our kids will know the people we know, so they’ll only be isolated if we isolate ourselves.

I’d love to talk more homeschooling with anyone interested–farmgirl70 at comcast dot net

rock on,
jeff

My husband has been encouraging me to share for quite a while, but it’s taken me a bit of time to get up the nerve. It’s wonderful to hear that there are so many others out there thinking similar thoughts.

First of all she is an extremely social creature which keeps her introverted mother very busy, so I’m definitely having to consider how to deal with the social issues. Our district here has a homeschool link where they offer music, art, and language classes along with some others which I’m hoping will help her have that kid face time she needs.

As to what I think we can gain it’s a little harder for me to verbalize at this point but I’ll try. I guess we want her to think of herself as part of something bigger than herself, as a member of a community. Not just an individual pursuing personal desires and goals, but as a member of society working for the betterment of all.

On the flip side we want to be able to treat her as an individual with individual needs. If she’s struggling and needs a break we skip it and come back to it later. If she loves something we dive in. If she’s studying art we jump on the bus and head downtown to the museum. There’s a lot more to it but that’s the basic idea.

I would think that the same would apply to public schools. It is not that we shouldn’t send them to public schools but equip them to engage that education and the diversity of cultures they will experience there in a wise way.

Finally, I would like to note that I am a product of the educational system that Cindy sniped at above. I did all right. I don’t buy into nor appreciate the stereotype.

I also happen to know multitude of highly qualified, compassionate and dedicated teaching professionals. It is unfortunate that Julie seems to have never met one. There is no field that has the corner on the incompetence market. My guess is there are plenty of deadbeats carrying the degree she has as well. The implications of Julie’s statements are unfair and her limited anecdotal evidence does not speak to the profession at large.

Cristi :]

My daughter’s only 3, but in Chicago it seems that most kids her age are already in some sort of preschool program. I don’t think I’d mind her being in a play-based class of some sort for a few hours a week while she’s 3 or 4, but I dread the thought of sending her to school when she’s 5 or 6. We may try homeshooling/unschooling at that point, as there is a very strong network of Unschoolers in Chicago, so I’d have a community of other parents to support me.
This is definitely something that makes me want to bury my head and cry sometimes.