The Call of Regular School

Today I was asked if the kids would ever do Regular School.

And I was unprepared. 7+ years of doing things at home, and I don’t have an answer to pull out of my pocket at a moment’s notice.

Partially that’s because no one ever asks. Seriously. Almost no one ever asks how school is going or why we homeschool. Maybe it’s a polite Midwestern thing, the minding of the business.

Maybe it’s because most people know our story. Cee got sick. There was no way to predict when a flare would hit or how she would feel from day to day. We juggled doctor appointments, lab work, physical therapy, and general “I feel badly” days. We would have constantly been trying to play catch up at home with schoolwork anyway. Might as well just do it all at home when she was feeling well.

I wouldn’t ever knock Regular School. As a child I loooooooved school. And my teachers. I could go through and list all the teachers who I dearly loved, and it would be a long list. (I could also list a handful of duds…but…that’s not the point.)

Today the dumb answer I gave about homeschooling is that my kids like their free time. That’s true! Except I worry about my answer making it sound like we don’t actually *do* school. That we spend our time watching TV all day (we don’t) and the none of my kids can read (they can). It’s just that homeschooling is a lot more efficient as far as time.

Our area is blessed with a small, rural school which is strong academically and offers students the opportunity to find success in a host of extracurricular activities. By all accounts it is an excellent school, but because it still involves a classroom of 20ish students all learning at the same time, it still has some of the same problems as every other Regular School.

For example, math at Regular School always takes 45 minutes (or 50 or an hour…whatever the schedule dictates). If a student understands the concepts in 10 minutes, it still takes 45 minutes. If a student doesn’t understand the concepts in 45 minutes, it still takes 45 minutes. The schedule, not student understanding, dictates lesson time.

The opposite is true at home. If a math lesson only takes 10 minutes– it only takes 10 minutes. The rest of the time can be spent building, reading, drawing– whatever the child prefers. The quantity of creative down time we have is pretty sweet. (Most of the time. Some days it would be delightful for the house to be a little less creative and a little more quiet for 7 consecutive hours. Deee-lightful.)

One thing about which I feel very very strongly is wanting my kids to grow up loving to learn and loving to read. Through no fault of the teachers, generally kids at Regular School don’t. Reading is a task, not a hobby. Learning is for a grade, not enjoyment.

Guys– the other day I ordered Volume IV of The Story of Civilization audio CD set, and my kids actually cheered when I told them. They cheered about American History. That’s bananas. We’ve listened to Volumes I-III, and they’ve been in suspense, waiting until IV was released. (It’s still on pre-order and will be shipped in August. They cannot wait!!!)

Cee (10) just finished Tom Sawyer. I asked how many times she’s read it. She said that between the kid’s abridged version and the actual version by Mark Twain, she’s probably read it ten times. Ten. Do you know how many times I’ve required her to read it? Zero. Zip. Zilch.

Elle (9) just finished reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. She said she’s read it twice now, but she’s listened to it as an audiobook many more times. (It’s gotten us through some long car rides.) Do you know how many times I’ve required her to read it? Zero. Zip. Zilch.

By surrounding my kids with good books and making our house relatively boring, they have come to enjoy reading. Voluntarily.

Part of that also involves going at a non-standard pace when it comes to learning to read. At Regular School, all students are expected to be reading by the end of kindergarten. For Cee and Elle, we spent kindergarten really focusing on phonics skills, and reading didn’t happen until a fair way into first grade. It’s a matter of consistent practice and support until the light-bulb eventually turns on. That’s the pace we’re taking with Moe as well. All my research supports this relaxed approach.

School is a marathon, not a sprint.

That’s why we’re homeschooling, people– to retain the joy of learning and books. For the kids to have time to explore their own interests.

We’ve worked out a curriculum system that seems to work well. We have a lovely group of friends in the area who are also homeschooling to help with the “socialization” issue non-homeschoolers seem so concerned about.

As the kids get older, we’ll continue to evaluate the best educational options for them. Maybe someday they will go to Regular School, but for now home seems to be the best option.

Even after this latest confrontation I don’t think I have a great answer ready to go about why we homeschool. I guess what it comes down to is that for now it is what’s best for our family. I respect the educational decisions other families make, even if they look different then our choices, and hopefully others can do the same for us.