A few thoughts on Home Education

I just talked to a veteran homeschooler who homeschooled her ten children until they were in ninth grade. She had many valuable things to say.

However. When our conversation ended I was left feeling---uninspired. I realized that she homeschooled as a way to keep her children away from the negative aspects of school and so she could spend more time with her children. Both very good reasons to homeschool, and part of my reasons to homeschool. But she didn't have any educational passion. She kept things very simple, her children transitioned well to high school, and she said they were all straight-A kids who loved being homeschooled when they were younger.

It wasn't enough for me. If I am going to homeschool then it has to be in part because I think the educational things we do will be fun also.

I'm still thinking about what this means exacty, because I am positive this woman was right when she said, "Homeschooling magnifies motherhood by 200% and there will be many mornings that you wake up thinking, 'Why am I doing this?'"

I am leaning more and more to keeping them out until third grade and then pulling them out again from 12-14. The first time because I can have extra time with them--build the family closeness factor, all those things--and the second time because of the education factor.

Oh, the woman did make me feel really good because she said her children are extremely close and spend most of their time with each other and haven't really shown much sign that they feel peer pressure from outside friends. That is great!