Wednesday, November 10, 2010

If ignorance is bliss....



...then I met the happiest person ever last week.  Unfortunately, she presented herself as a grumpy old lady so it was hard to see. It made me wonder what others really think of people who educate their children at home. She clearly had a incorrect picture of our life so I thought I would clear up a few things. I know she will not read this, but I will feel better if I can clear up just a few misconceptions for others.

1 - It would appear that some people (**cough** see the above mentioned grumpy old woman), think that homeschoolers "do school in our jammies" so save SOO much money on school clothes that it is ok to rip us of on other things. While it might be true that we stay in our jammies some days (admit it, you do too!), we do venture out of our house occasionally and people freak out when the family shows up in matching footed jammies. Therefore we do, in fact, still have to buy (or knit) our kids new denim jumpers each year, which costs money.

2 - Contrary to popular beliefs, our kids do have a social life. They are active in sports, church, and the community. We don't hog tie them in a cave and we do even encourage our kids have friends. If you think otherwise, it might be that we don't want them to be friends with your kids......hmmm.......moving on.


3 - We are not all homeschooling for religious reasons. While I LOVE that I get to teach a Biblical world view of things and teach the kids how God really is in everything, that was not our main reason for choosing to educate our children at home. We, personally, pulled ours out to give them a BETTER education overall.  We choose to not waste time teaching something they already know, and to instead spend more time digging into new things. We have no idea what God has planned for their futures so we are doing our best to prepare them for whatever path they end up taking. Religion aside, if we were not giving our kids the best possible education and didn't believe that we are preparing them to be contributing members of society, we would quit tomorrow. Imagine all I could get done without three kiddos around all day long.



4 - We don't think that homeschooling is the right choice for everyone or look down on others for not doing it. Honest. If you are annoyed that we homeschool, maybe you have some guilt you need to deal with and quit trying to put it on me. I am so thankful that we have choices to do what we believe is best for our children.  When I was younger, I went to public school for 5 years, was homeschooled for 5 years and attended Christian schools for 2 years before attending and graduating from a private university and proceeding to teach in the public school system for 3 years. Phew. I think there is a time and place for everything and again, I am glad we have choices. I'll respect yours if you respect mine. Heck, I'll respect yours even if you don't respect mine...I'm just nice like that ;o)

Do you have any burning questions about people who educate their children at home that you would like to ask? Bring it on. I'll gladly give you my .02 on it ;o) Hate to have too many people running around being blissful ;o)

9 comments:

  1. Girl, love this post. What really annoys me is when people judge and have no idea.....and REALLY, we all have our own choices in life and like my grandma says, "as long as it's not immoral or illegal we can all do what we want to do"! I am not sure if I have it in me to homeschool, but I think it is a wonderful thing, and I totally look up to you for doing it!

    :)

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  2. Thank you so much, N. I was afraid it was too snarky but really, this lady pushed me right to the edge and I just started typing - haha. I am loving your grandma!!

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  3. 1. How do your kids know whether they're cool or not if they don't attend school?

    2. Do you allow your kids to sleep in pj's? And if so, does the biggest boy still wear the footed kind? What about plastic big-boy pants?

    3. Wait...aren't you the mother that used to videotape your 3-year-old daughter walking down a dark hallway, while her father jumped out & scared her senseless? Have fun explaining that to DHS.

    4. Do you really think you can do a better job of educating your kids than the state of Oklahoma?! You obviously haven't heard that we've moved up to 48th place in the nation!

    5. When you say your kids are "active" in church, would you please define to what extent? Are they actively drawing pictures during the sermon? Do they actively kick the seat in front of them?

    Thanks for ruining my blissful Wednesday. You can put that in your Vita-mix and grind it! ;)~

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  4. Dear LS...I mean Anon,
    Thanks for your questions, I can tell you put a lot of thought into them.
    1 - Oh I know their not and really don't need others telling them too.
    2 - We sleep fully clothed...never know when you are going to get run out in the night. PJs are for school, duh.
    3 - I'm pleading the 5th...and dropshots erased everything so there is no proof anyway ;)
    4 - It is a lot to live up to...but we do what we can.
    5 - They do karate there every week...that's pretty active, no?

    Vita-mix is for the rich folks who don't have to buy new PJs each season for their herd. We stick with the Magic Bullet around here. Come over anytime and try our special drinks ;)

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  5. You two are a mess, but oh so funny!! Now I know why T and J aren't friends though. I know homeschooling moms drink special drinks ;), mushroom babies, need I say more I didn't know Vita-mix was one of them. Leslie you do a great job with your kiddos they are wonderful and oh so smart kids keep up the good work!

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  6. Love the post, Les! You're doing a great job, teacher :)

    Jen

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  7. You are hilarious! Thanks for a good laugh today. Just for the record, Lauren was the only one who schooled in her PJ's today. :-) Well, Katie and David wore yesterday's clothes to bed last night and just kept them on. Does that count?

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  8. You're a stinkin' hoot! Love it.

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