How we became homeschoolers
I had never given any thought really as to how I would educate my children. Growing up in government schools, I knew some peers who went to Catholic schools. Outside of that I never really gave it any thought.
As babies, I left them home with my husband. I worked as a pet groomer and that was the best decision for us. I never wanted to put my babies in a daycare. I brought them with me as newborns and when they were a few mos old they stayed home.
When my oldest son was about 3 I enrolled him in this great little preschool close to where I worked. We both liked it so later I also enrolled my younger son. The school was in a home that was converted into classrooms. It was a learning enviornment in a home like setting. Its was a great little school and we were very pleased. But I also came to realize something. I was giving up close to half my paycheck to pay someone else to care for and educate my children. By the time I got to see them they were tired, hungry and ready for bed. It just didn't seem right. We decided at that time that my husband would continue to stay home with them and I would work.
In September of 2001, I began listening to a few talk radio shows. I was learning alot about the education system in the US. Over the next year, I had become aware of how terrible the government education system was. I began doing research. Around that time my 3rd child, a daughter, was born. Our neighbor was a teacher and we often discussed education. We began to discuss hiring her to teach in our home a few hours a day. My children would get individual attention and it was less expensive than private school. It was an idea we tossed around but never committed to. I was also becoming aware of the option to homeschool, but didn't give it much thought as I didn't think it was an option for us.
As Jacob is a December baby he was not to be enrolled in school to close to his 6th birthday. In 2003 just before he turned 5, we began doing lessons at home. He loved his "schooltime" at home and I began stocking up on the Dollar Tree workbooks and such.
We continued to work with them at home and as our family grew, the stronger the urge to continue in this manner grew as well. I do not ever recall a discussion deciding to homeschool. It was more of a realization that we were in fact homeschoolers.
I do not presume to know or even remember everything my children will eventually learn. Many of our lessons involve both the teacher and student learning together. The internet is our teachers manual. Our goal is to teach out children to be independent learners.
" The only purpose of education is to teach a student how to live his life-by developing his mind and equipping him to deal with reality. The training he needs is theoretical, i.e., conceptual. He has to be taught to think, to understand, to integrate, to prove. He has to be taught the essentials of the knowledge discovered in the past-and he has to be equipped to acquire further knowledge by his own effort. "
--Ayn Rand
