AmityMama.com - View Single Post - I am so tired of family assuming we'll do public school when we move!

redheadmama · 11-20-2007, 05:29 PM

This is just a vent I have to get off of my chest, so feel free to ignore.

We are military and found out that we will be moving to Ft. Stewart, GA sometime between April and May of '08. We tell family, blah blah, they are excited for us to move away from here, because we just don't really care for this area, and we are ready for a change. So of course, my MIL goes online and looks up all about where we will be moving.

The very first phonecall I get from her after we've emailed the news of course she brings up public school. She tells me how the schools at Ft. Stewart on post are run by DoD rather than by the local school district so she hopes so much that we'll be able to get on post housing so we can get the girls into public school.

Grrrrr. And every time I have talked to her since, of course she brings up the school thing. Yes, part of the reason we are homeschooling here is because the local school district totally sucks. We tried it, for half of K (Hannah was in ps for K in WA so when we moved here, we let her finish the year in ps.) We tried it again for 2nd grade for her, dh was deploying and I was pregnant with #4 and I just didn't feel like I could commit 100% to homeschooling her "properly" whatever that means. We hated it. It just wasn't working for us. But that being said, the bad schools here are not the ONLY reason we are homeschooling. There are many other things that factor into our decision to homeschool and to remain homeschooling.

Is it really so hard to believe that I actually ENJOY homeschooling my children? Really? I mean, sure, there are days where it feels more like a burden than a blessing and days where the thought of being home all day with just the baby is so appealing to me, and days where we don't get done everything I had planned (I am getting much better about that by the way!), but overall, for the majority, I honestly enjoy it. I am already looking forward to switching curriculums next year and trying a more hands on approach and already researching the homeschooling laws in GA. I am not sure how long grade wise in the long run that we will feel comfortable with homeschooling, right now dh is comfortable with schooling up through 6th grade and then putting them in public school so they can get involved in activities/groups of their choosing, and I worry about high school requirements as far as graduation and whatnot go, but that's in the future. My oldest is in 4th grade this year, so we have at least 2 more years to decide what we'll do next.

I really take joy in being my childrens teacher. We are involved in a homeschool group and last Friday we had our Open House and got to go through the classrooms and see what the kids have been learning and they had a program and I got to see my 9yo get up in front of everyone and do a skit from a Shakespeare play, nailing her lines and doing a great job, and watch her sing with the chorus and it just warmed my heart so much. She has come so far socially since we've pulled her out of ps and my girls are just totally flourishing. They are well-adjusted, well-behaved and the major thing is, it's WORKING for us. Why change it???

I admit, it's probably my fault, at least partly, because dh and I have mostly used the "excuse" of the state of the schools here as a reason for homeschooling to pacify family, mostly because we just don't feel the need to get into the nitty gritty details of our decision because it's really none of their business, and our schooling choices for our children don't affect them. But still, we've certainly touted the benefits of homeschooling and how well our girls are doing. I just hate that they automatically assume we will put them in ps when we get to a better school district. Add that to FIL grilling the girls on what they have learned and I am just annoyed, lol.

Anyway, vent over, just had to get that out.

11-20-2007, 05:29 PM	#1 (permalink)
redheadmama Registered User iTrader: 3 / 100% Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 1,675	I am so tired of family assuming we'll do public school when we move! This is just a vent I have to get off of my chest, so feel free to ignore. We are military and found out that we will be moving to Ft. Stewart, GA sometime between April and May of '08. We tell family, blah blah, they are excited for us to move away from here, because we just don't really care for this area, and we are ready for a change. So of course, my MIL goes online and looks up all about where we will be moving. The very first phonecall I get from her after we've emailed the news of course she brings up public school. She tells me how the schools at Ft. Stewart on post are run by DoD rather than by the local school district so she hopes so much that we'll be able to get on post housing so we can get the girls into public school. Grrrrr. And every time I have talked to her since, of course she brings up the school thing. Yes, part of the reason we are homeschooling here is because the local school district totally sucks. We tried it, for half of K (Hannah was in ps for K in WA so when we moved here, we let her finish the year in ps.) We tried it again for 2nd grade for her, dh was deploying and I was pregnant with #4 and I just didn't feel like I could commit 100% to homeschooling her "properly" whatever that means. We hated it. It just wasn't working for us. But that being said, the bad schools here are not the ONLY reason we are homeschooling. There are many other things that factor into our decision to homeschool and to remain homeschooling. Is it really so hard to believe that I actually ENJOY homeschooling my children? Really? I mean, sure, there are days where it feels more like a burden than a blessing and days where the thought of being home all day with just the baby is so appealing to me, and days where we don't get done everything I had planned (I am getting much better about that by the way!), but overall, for the majority, I honestly enjoy it. I am already looking forward to switching curriculums next year and trying a more hands on approach and already researching the homeschooling laws in GA. I am not sure how long grade wise in the long run that we will feel comfortable with homeschooling, right now dh is comfortable with schooling up through 6th grade and then putting them in public school so they can get involved in activities/groups of their choosing, and I worry about high school requirements as far as graduation and whatnot go, but that's in the future. My oldest is in 4th grade this year, so we have at least 2 more years to decide what we'll do next. I really take joy in being my childrens teacher. We are involved in a homeschool group and last Friday we had our Open House and got to go through the classrooms and see what the kids have been learning and they had a program and I got to see my 9yo get up in front of everyone and do a skit from a Shakespeare play, nailing her lines and doing a great job, and watch her sing with the chorus and it just warmed my heart so much. She has come so far socially since we've pulled her out of ps and my girls are just totally flourishing. They are well-adjusted, well-behaved and the major thing is, it's WORKING for us. Why change it??? I admit, it's probably my fault, at least partly, because dh and I have mostly used the "excuse" of the state of the schools here as a reason for homeschooling to pacify family, mostly because we just don't feel the need to get into the nitty gritty details of our decision because it's really none of their business, and our schooling choices for our children don't affect them. But still, we've certainly touted the benefits of homeschooling and how well our girls are doing. I just hate that they automatically assume we will put them in ps when we get to a better school district. Add that to FIL grilling the girls on what they have learned and I am just annoyed, lol. Anyway, vent over, just had to get that out. __________________ ~Catherine SAHM to my 4 beauties, Hannah Faye (7/98), Sophia Noelle (12/00), Juliette Emilie-Annalise (10/02) and Evelynn Grace (3/06), and loving Army wife to papabear, Nick since 12/95

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