Pros and Cons of Homeschooling, Part I

The way we decided to homeschool was odd. I felt so moved to do it during prayer time that we made our decision before we'd really looked into it. Which caused something interesting- everytime we read about it, talked to those who've been through it, researched it, we found out new things we didn't know that added to our enthusiasm. It's not often that we make choices that will majorly affect our life without thoroughly looking into it first, but being able to step out in faith and trust that God would show us His reasons in time was challenging and exciting!

In fact, the first few reasons we had to homeschool have seemed to fade into the background and become less important as we've discovered so, so many new reasons to love this alternative form of education.

We've learned so much about homeschooling that we had no idea about! And I bet most of you didn't know some of these things either. Over the next few posts I'll share with you some of the things we learned and how they affect our decision: positively and negatively.

First- and this is important- Terry and I are in agreement when we say that we do not believe this is the best and only way to educate kids. You'll never hear us say that we think it is superior to public or private school. We think they've all got their own strengths and weaknesses. And our enthusiasm to homeschool should not be taken as an expression of any kind of an agenda. We're just loving our discovery of this new way of life (easy to say before we actually begin it, huh?) and so I'm sharing so you can understand where we're coming from.

And it wouldn't be completely honest of me if I didn't say that we are hoping you will see the legitimacy of the choice and decide to support us. We'd love to do this with the cheers of our family and friends echoing in our ears.

On to the two biggest questions regarding homeschooling...

How will you provide a valid and exemplary education?
The negatives:

Terry and I both have Bachelor's Degrees. But neither of our degrees are in Education. We don't have teaching certificates and haven't been trained as professional teachers. But we will be the ones responsible for our children's education.
From my research and speaking to other homeschool parents, I've learned that parents sometimes feel they have less patience when it comes to teaching their own children compared to someone who doesn't know them as well. I've been cautioned to work hard in this area.

The positives:

By deciding to teach our children at home we are in no way devaluing the hard work and expertise of our many friends and family who work in school systems now. We weren't trained to be professional teachers and you won't ever hear us saying we can do a better job than those dedicated teachers. But we do understand that, at the same time, there are some teachers out there who are not as dedicated and who won't care as much. Choosing to teach our own kids just means that we're taking their education into our own hands instead of sitting back and crossing our fingers that they won't get a crummy, bored, or burnt-out teacher.

Between Terry and I, we are lucky enough to have the biggest subjects covered- Terry got his degree in Math and I am an 'English person' who had to spend hours perfecting grammar and sentence structure in my college journalism classes. However we will still depend greatly on finding appropriate curriculum. We will spend time learning before and as we teach. We will strive to be aware of our own inadequacies and turn to tutors and PREP classes when called for (more on those later). Knowing our children's education depends on us will be a huge motivator and we will be hard-working and dedicated to provide the right tools to get them to be successful in life.

And because we're still tax-paying citizens, we will still be allowed to use some resources from Cy-fair ISD (according to homeschool parents we've spoken to in our district) such as special education help and academic testing to ensure your keeping up with what the state requires.
Many studies I've found report that homeschooled students out-test their public school counterparts. (Including these stats provided by the Home School Legal Defense Association.) However, most of these tests are done by homeschool associations and so I'll concede that there could be a bias in the testing. But recently released statistics show the 2006 average ACT composite score for homeschooled students was 22.4, compared to the national average composite of 21.1. I think we can feel sure that the ACT administrators have no reason to skew these numbers in favor of homeschoolers. So if we trust the numbers, we can know that homeschool parents are, in general, finding success!


How Will They Have a Life if They're Always Cooped Up Inside?
The Socialization Debate:

The negatives:

This has to be the most controversial issue regarding homeschooling. No matter how active of a homeschool life you make for yourselves, you won't be able to provide the 8 to 9 hour-long interaction that kids get with peers in public or private school. They'll miss passing notes in the hall, pep rallies, recess, etc. (Although, as of now, we feel that we would allow our kids to go back into the public system in high school, and so they might have access to a few of those things if they desire to and if we don't change our minds.)

Overall, this is an area that I tend to get a little sad about. While I do believe my kids will have plenty of fun and plenty of friends, there is something special about the lifestyle school (highschool, mostly) brings that I would be sad for them to miss. Fortunately, I can see the big picture, and for us, there are many more lifestyle positives to homeschooling than there are negatives.

The positives:

Thankfully, homeschool resources abound! There are endless PREP classes in our area. In fact, we have 3 nearby groups to choose from when it comes to support for parents, and educational and socialization opportunities for kids. We are near West Houston Home Educators, Katy Area Christian Homeschoolers and Tomball Christan Homeschoolers. Because of the popularity of homeschooling in recent years our kids will have the following activities available to them, just like public school kids:

PE classes at the YMCA
competetive baseball, basketball, volleyball, and track
speech
theater
choir
band
dances and prom
student council/government
graduation ceremony

And PREP classes step in when parents are having difficulty getting their kids to grasp a particular subject. These classes offer tons of chances to make friends! Here are a few I've noted that are available just through West Houston Home Educators:
art
latin
science
spanish
speech/theater
sign language
media
algebra
reading and writing

In addition, The Natural Museum of Science (and from what I hear, other museums in Houston) offer courses for kids to take on the premises! Even The Children's Museum has a homeschool day.

When the time is closer, we will join a homeschool co-op which is a group of familes who homeschool and agree to support each other. We will be able to use these other parents' expertise, resources, tips. And, more importantly, these groups frequently bring all of their children together for fun and educational activities.

I seem to have adopted the mantra, "Homeschooling is what you make it!" because in the case of socialization, my kids will have whatever opportunities we provide them. If we don't enroll them in PREP classes, let them play sports, participate in extra-curriculars, or make friends at church in Sunday School, AWANA, or youth then it's nobody's fault but ours. We're in charge and the kids' lives can look like whatever we choose (this also causes a lot of pressure and the topic of 'being in charge' will appear later as a negative).