Homeschool?

         I still get a little nervous when someone asks me if I am homeschooling my children.   I don't really know how to answer.  It seems a disservice to home school moms and groups to call this homeschooling.  I know a few home school moms who put a lot more work into education than I am currently doing. 

       I do not attend the conferences and peruse varieties of curricula and teaching methods to determine which will be the best fit for my child as well as achieve the goals of actually educating them.  I attempted to do this on my own.  I sat down with stacks of textbooks and began reading the objectives and pouring through sample lessons and worksheets.  I can honestly say that I have no idea how one person could have enough time to evaluate all that is available for one subject in one grade level, never mind building an entire well rounded curriculum.   I was quickly overwhelmed.  I guessed it would take me months of preparation to find acceptable curriculum and create lesson plans for one school year. 

       I also do not have the same reasons for doing this as many of the families I met while searching for home school information.  My children were not bullied or in danger.  I was not uncomfortable with the topics that were being taught.  I was uncomfortable with the amount of materials that were not taught, due to time constraints, budget, or merely political reasons.

      Now, I may say that I did not feel my children were bullied or in danger, but let me say that I also did not feel that the local public schools were as focused on success as I would like.  It seems an awful lot of resources and time are focused on the problems in school.  With every published report of the condition of our schools, testing, student statistics or salary requirements, there are teams of people creating tests surveys and compiling data for these reports.  Unfortunately, as much as I rely on these reports to compare and contrast information, it seems these are resources that need to be used to better prepare our children for their futures.  In this way, I did not feel that I could entrust my children to the local school.

       With this virtual school method, I am able help my children to accelerate if they wish to.  I am able to add other materials to supplement if I chose to take the time to do so.  We are free to explore many more opportunities while they are also achieving their school requirements.  

      I really do not have to do much to find accomplishment with this method.  I am certainly grateful for such a strong curriculum and guidelines that are easy to follow.  I am grateful that the planning I do is so easy in comparison to creating actual lesson plans.  

     I am not comfortable with the term, "Home school mom".  It does not offend me, but it does not fit.  What we are doing does deserve its own name, free from other associations, because it is different.  It is unique.  I love this and hope we are able to continue to evolve as my childrens' educational needs evolve.