homeschool

     My husband and I, three preschools later, have decided that our son is a great candidate for homeschool. Homeschool was not on my radar when I was planing a family. Since I've become a parent things have changed. My son's demeanor changed for the worst when I put him into preschool.  The last school we pulled him out of started suggesting ADD! I couldn't friggen believe my ears.  My son was doing great when he started, six months later he was aggressive and full of anxiety.  This particular school had very little running space and no climbing structure. My sons physiological impulses were thwarted just about  at every move. He was told things like "stop running", "shhhh not so loud" `and "don't climb on that" on a regular basis. He was not interested in the fancy art project the teachers had spent much time on thinking up. He just wanted to play, jump, run, laugh and yell out but was not afforded to do so. None of this was considered in making his assessment about ADD.  My child is a kid who will sit and listen to me read 4 chapters straight of books such as Little House on the Prairie. Let's not forget that this kid is 4 and this particular book has almost no pictures. ADD? Get a life! The straw that broke the camels back was when the neurotic director demanded that we hire a shadow for our son to follow his every move to restrict him even further. We were already paying these people $1200 per month for part time care. Now they wanted us to fork out an extra $400-$600 per week for a professional shadow? We did not have that kind of cash. I decided to pull our son out and to consider home school.  I was worried because I have a career and I am still pursing to achieve my ultimate position as a certified midwife which requires extensive schooling. How would I have the time to support my child and take care of my responsibilities?  My husband works about 12-16 hours a day 5-6 days a week so he could not fill the role as home school teacher.
     I read a book on how children learn by John Holt and another book about what we lose in mass schooling, written by an award winning New York school teacher. This man John Tyler Gatto taught for 30 plus years before he wrote this book and it got my attention. These books allowed me to make sense of my own childhood and adolescents. I struggled in school and hated every second of grade school. At the age of 16, I finally entered an alternative school with about 80 students. I could arrive any time between 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.and I could work in any class room I was comfortable in. I could even do my studies outside! I went from D's to A's in 11 months and graduated with the Spirit Award. An award given to the most inspiring student who is an example of what they hope all students will transform into. This school allowed me to understand that I was not an idiot but rather that the mainstream school could not support my learning style. These books allowed me to understand that I was not just a weird, isolated incident in this school system and that actually the school system is what has become quite dysfunctional. My son is already showing signs of not being able to "fit in" to run of the mill "here is what you are going to learn" schooling. Nope, my kid needs to learn at his own pace and his learning content has to be spontaneous and based off of his own curiosity. I had such a transformative experience during my last years of high school in that alternative school. I still miss the teachers there and call them from time to time. My love for learning was born at that school.  I can only imaging what my childhood would have been like if I would have had more options prior to high school.
     After I came to all of this understanding there was no way I could not home school my son. We are just going to have to make the best of it. Actually, I am already enjoying taking my son on field trips and making the world our classroom.  I am grateful that I do not have to stick my son in the "one size fits all box." I hope he thrives and loves learning for his entire life. I suggest these reads to anyone. Even if you do not have kids or if you totally dig mainstream school, you may learn a lot about yourself and how humans learn in general. I know home school is not for everyone but a joy for learning is and today we have many more options on how we can find pleasure in learning.

Enjoy!