*Freedom*.
That's all. Let's get in the wayback machine... before our babies... Before wrinkles, before much experience... but AFTER my passion for teaching was LIT and INFLAMED.....
Back when I taught in the public school... with all those public school students, I KNEW I could do a better job in a better way, with more fun and efficiency.
But I wasn't allowed. We didn't have the time, the resources, and the permission to do it the way I wanted to do it. My students weren't allowed to stay late or come early, and we were restricted from talking about anything that wasn't on the lesson plan - I got called into the principal's office COUNTLESS times as a teacher (zero times as a student!) I got used to it, and I told my principal I wouldn't change, I cared too much about "my kids" and not enough about the policies... and he nodded, smiled, and said, "See you next week."
I have to admit, I sometimes miss the challenge of juggling 28 students' needs at once. I absolutely wonder who they became - they were my first babies. The biggest perk: I was truly NEVER EVER bored.... Plus, it was great benefits, and good job security, just lousy goal reaching. I dreaded every single day. It was full of meaningless busy work that took all my energy to get done and no almost no learning happened. 45 minutes at a time, no goals reached. They HAD to do homework - there was no time to learn in class... Goodness.. 8 sessions every day of no goals reached. Very few light bulbs, and no way to change this awful ferris wheel or even to get off.
My husband and I are both so grateful that my children don't know the bleak outlook on learning public school gave me.
So: Homeschool. Is it perfect? No. Will my kids have education gaps? YES. But - they are CHOOSING where, how, and with whom to spend their ONE nonrenewable resource: TIME.
Choose how you and your children spend your time! HOMESCHOOL!