I homeschool my children. We just started Kindergarten with Gwendolyn and plan to begin first grade in January. I don’t know that I’ll still be doing this when my kids are in high school, but for now, we are a family of homeschoolers.
I’ve always been supportive of and greatly admired parents who homeschool and when Gwendolyn was little, I talked big about possibly being a homeschooling parent myself, but I never really, truly believed that I would be one. And yet, here I am. And here’s my dirty little secret: Homeschooling is not my first choice. It kind of terrifies me. I worry that I won’t be organized enough. I worry that there won’t be enough of me to go around. I worry that there will be big, gaping holes in their education. I worry that I will get burned out after a few years of creating and teaching three or four different curriculums at the same time. I worry that I won’t have any time left over in my day for me.
Education is very important to me and Todd (which is why we’ll be paying off our student loans for the next 60 years) and there are many reasons why we chose to homeschool. I’m going to list some of the main ones here, and try not to be too inflammatory (or long-winded).
1. I heart Rudolph Steiner. When Gwendolyn was in utero, I started researching educational philosophies in great detail and discovered Waldorf Education, which immediately resonated with me. For two years, Gwendolyn attended a mixed-age Waldorf Kindergarten. That school is an amazing place – you walk in the door and can feel the peaceful spirit. Her teacher loved and understood the soul of our feisty little girl in a way that seemed impossible for anyone who wasn’t a blood relative. Gwendolyn bloomed and matured at that school, our family was blessed, more peace entered our home and I became even more devoted to the Waldorf methodology. (I could write an entire post singing the praises of Waldorf Education, but I’ll save that for another day.) Last year when we moved to a small town with nothing Waldorf within 60 miles, homeschooling seemed like the only way to have my children educated in the way I felt was best.
2. I think homeschooling is one of the best ways to foster a deep, life-long love of learning. My kids will be learning at developmentally appropriate levels instead of being pushed into academics prematurely. My kids will be able to really explore and study in depth the things that spark their interest instead of being forced to stick with the same schedule and topics as the other 25 kids in the class. My kids will only need to spend a few hours, three or four days a week in “school” and will still have most of their day to play and be children and pursue their own interests instead of spending their time waiting on a bunch of other children to catch up or get in line or be disciplined.
3. I don’t trust the public school system. Todd and I both went to public schools and had great experiences in elementary school. I even liked high school (Todd is actually a high school dropout). There are really great public schools in our area. One just up the road from us is one of the best in the state, but I do not want my children spending their school days memorizing information so they can regurgitate it on a standardized test. I don’t want them feeling the stress that comes from schools and teachers who have to jump through hoops in order to keep jobs or get funding. I do not want to have my kid selling stuff to friends and relatives in an effort to raise money for their school. I know that most of the public school teachers out there are devoted to the children they teach and feel passionately about the work they do. I know these men and women are smart and talented and well-trained, but they also have to work within the parameters set by the federal government, the state legislature and the school board, and I’ve seen some of the complications that can come from that interference.
4. Maybe I don’t want my kids socializing with your kid. I say this tongue in cheek because some people worry about the socialization of homeschooled children. Frankly, I like the fact that Gwendolyn isn’t spending most of her waking hours being influenced by a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds. Even when Gwendolyn attended the private Waldorf school in the city, where all the families shared the same views of education and there were never more than a dozen kids in the class, she still struggled with peer pressure, cliques and inappropriate (for pre-school aged children) language/actions. I worry that Gwendolyn has the kind of personality that would go out into the world and swallow it whole – the good with the bad. I want to keep her and her brothers close to home so I can love and nurture and preserve their innocence a little longer. We have very limited media in our home (a personal choice, but also a tenet of the Waldorf philosophy). Call us snobs, but we’d just as soon not have our kids know about Hannah Montana, violent video games and action heroes, or all the big corporations trying to sell them junky toys and food. (The shows themselves can be annoying, but there’s something so insidious about corporations targeting children, attempting to create life-long consumers.) People will argue that those with strong moral values need to be in public schools to be a force of good in the world, to influence their peers. Sure, but not when they are little kids; they have a lifetime to be a force of good in the world. Childhood is just a tiny fraction of their lifetime and I don’t feel one bit guilty for wanting to share as much of that with them as possible.
As far as being socially stunted, my children will get plenty of interaction with peers though church, dance and sports teams, swim lessons, workshops at local museums and theatres, weekly library storytime, outings with local homeschooling groups and playdates with friends, not to mention the almost constant interaction with parents and siblings. I believe the latter will lead to a stronger parent-child bond and closer bonds with siblings. I actually feel that one of the advantages of homeschooling is the level of comfort these children have in their intellectual interactions with adults, a sort of mentoring which is often quashed during formal schooling.
5. While not a reason why I chose to homeschool, I do think I’m qualified. I may not have a teaching certificate, but I’m no dummy. Todd and I each have advanced degrees from ivy league schools, for the sake of Pete! I know my own kids and can assess their strengths and weaknesses and work with them one on one and when I do want my children to learn a subject which I don’t feel qualified to teach, there are community resources I can turn to. In fact, there is a homeschool resource center within walking distance of my house which offers classes like foreign languages, physics, dissection, etc to homeschoolers. I plan to take advantage of such things.
6. Finally, but most importantly, I prayed about it. I prayed long and hard (after researching nearly every public and private school in the area) and was told in no uncertain terms that I was to homeschool and that a Waldorf curriculum would be best for my children. This was not really what I wanted to hear, but then I saw how the Lord had provided many resources to help me. Our home (which Todd signed a contract on before I even saw pictures of it) is right across the street from a woman who homeschools her four kids, is close to the only homeschool store/resource center in town, is near to my friend Allison’s house (another Waldorf homeschooling Mama who has kids close to the ages of my own children). We are in this house for a reason. There are also great websites, Yahoo Groups and curriculum guides just for Waldorf homeschoolers.
Like I said, I don’t know how long we’ll be doing this, but for now, I know it’s the right decision for our family and we are really enjoying it. Most of the time.
There is a lot of talk in this house about someone the children call “Baby Sister”, even though I’m not pregnant and don’t plan to be anytime soon and Todd and I don’t discuss possible future children with our current children. Still. At church yesterday a baby girl was blessed and Linus was very interested in the baby. He kept asking me (in his quiet bellow) how we would get baby sister, when we would get baby sister, how she would get to our house, and finally, when they were going to bring her over to our pew. It dawned on me that Linus thought the baby getting blessed in church was Baby Sister. I explained that the sweet baby we saw in church was someone else’s baby sister, not his. He’s obviously still confused because last night he asked if Baby Sister would be arriving tomorrow. 
