Thursday, March 28, 2013

Things That Drive Me Nuts About Homeschooling

We all love homeschooling, but let's be honest, there are some things, on some days that drive us cuckoo, over the edge and make us go from warm, loving mamas to slightly crazy mamas.


10.  My house is never clean.  I give up.  You can't clean a room when it is in use and every room in our home is being used for something at every minute of the day.

9.  I don't like grading math, especially pet shop math where I don't have an answer key.  grrr...I procrastinate more on this than any other task in life.

8.  When I do decide to take a phone call, it's like "A Holiday in Paris"...all work stops and they start singing and dancing and doing flips off the furniture...or they disappear into thin air and it takes me an hour and a half to get them back on track.

7.  There are not enough hours in the day to homeschool, clean, run errands and run to the kids' activities and still always find time for a nice, home-cooked meal, laundry and time to make the house sparkle.  (But, I wouldn't trade homeschooling for anything).

6.  I worry.  I worry that my kids will live with me forever and never get a job because they hate getting up early.  I worry that we don't do enough or that we don't follow the exact curriculum of school.  It really is all on my shoulders whether or not any of these things happens.  But, if they went to school I would worry about other things and this was my decision, I am glad that I had the freedom to make it.

5.  "Free to be you and me" families.  This is my friends' name for families who don't want to teach their child manners or tell them not to be rude or tell them they need to share or get along with others.  These parents believe that any instruction of any kind will inhibit their child from becoming who they were meant to be or something like that.  And their kids are rude and inappropriate and selfish sometimes.  We leave them alone as much as possible, but it's difficult when they do show up somewhere.

4.Why do people think that because my kids are homeschooled they are unsocialized?  Seriously.  My girls have friends, they attend classes with other kids, they know what is cool and what is not, they know all the latest songs and games.  Sure, they may not have the social hierarchy of having to always fit in with kids that are their same age, but is that really healthy?

3.  Grading writing can be difficult.  Sometimes my kids don't like to take my corrective criticism because I am their mother.  They very wrongly believe a teacher would accept incorrect subject-verb agreement and run-on sentences.  I have to stand firm.

2.  My kids want to break for snacks every 13 seconds.  I know it's just procrastination, but apparently they are famished and about to pass out from hunger because they have not eaten in the last 10 seconds.  Oh! the drama!

1.  I hate paying school taxes when I wouldn't send my kids to the school.  It drives me nuts to think how much money I spend to support a system that I don't believe in.

HOWEVER, the opportunity to be with my girls all day, every day, to see them grow and learn, to see that moment when they make a connection, to be able to provide them with time and opportunity to explore the things that interest them, allowing them the time to delve into things that really interest them and not move on fast because we need to cover so many things, hearing them talk about books they loved or artists they admire, allowing them to pick out science kits that make their learning so fun and exciting that I know they will never forget it, having them tell me they can't wait to read the next Story of the World, having them research things that interest them, having them pile their arms full of books on the Civil Rights Movement or World War II or pirates or Ancient Greece at the library and knowing that I can make time for them to read them and help them find ways to make the information meaningful to them, being able to take a day off when they are sick or we have a family issue or we just need a mental health day...slowing down their childhood by spending more of it with them...nope, I wouldn't trade this for the world.  I thank God every night for this opportunity and for my hard-working husband who helps make it possible.
What drives you crazy about homeschooling?
Go on, let it out!