How Many Moms Does It Take to Graduate Eight Boys from Homeschool?

Three years ago, a post a entitled "Graduating and Graduating Some More" was written on the day that our daughter graduated from the local high school.

Only a few months after that, our son, who has never found education to his liking for more than a few minutes at a time, was so unhappy that he began to rebel against education and his parents. Not good. Over his years in public school, both teachers and administrators had suggested that we consider homeschooling, and early his sophomore year, we took the plunge. During that time, I have learned some things that didn't work well for him, and some that did. In some ways, homeschooling is no different than public school education. For instance, taking the ACT involved getting up early on Saturday, just like it does for public school students. Formal dances require flowers, spiffy clothes, and all that is left are the pictures, and that is just like public school, too.

In other ways, homeschooling is more like college. Until I embarked upon the homeschooling journey, I did not know that there are homeschool "groups" and "co-ops" and private tutors who cater to homeschooler families. The state of Georgia also allows homeschoolers to enroll in online classes via the Georgia Virtual School. During our three years of homeschooling, we have experienced all of those. Actually, not only are there many options open for educating, there are also opportunities for socialization, from drama groups to homeschool swim day, skate day, winter and spring formal dances, and bowling leagues. And I learned that one can order everything from entire curriculums with books, tests, and DVD instruction; to invitations, a diploma, and even the cap and gown. I've met a number of interesting people, including my son's tutor, his music teacher, and a number of other homeschooling moms. Without participating in homeschooling, and a homeschool group over in Hall County, I would never have known about the Frances Meadows Aquatic Center, Yonah Skate and Bowl, the nifty ice cream cones at the Corner Drug Store on Thompson Bridge Road, the HEART co-op, Nuçi’s Space, Camp Amped, Baxendale Guitar, the Athens School of Music, Oasis Bowl, and I probably would not have visited nearly so many churches and parks in Hall County. My car has added a humongous number of miles, too. (Thank goodness, it is Honda.) As I look back on it, there are many activities we did not do. I don't see how anyone could come close to doing them all.

When I was in graduate school, studying English and education, a chronologically gifted professor had us read The Sabre Toothed Curriculum, a satire which points out how old ways remain a part of schooling, far beyond their usefulness. Things have not changed much since its publication in 1939; schools still teach outdated skills. Some homeschool families have made it a priority to teaching their children life skills, rather than merely to sit still for long hours. The group instruction model does not take into account individual learning styles, either. Among homeschool moms, there are discussions about the Charlotte Mason method, Classical Conversations, and whether Saxon math is better than Teaching Textbooks. My curriculum and methods classes at Piedmont College did not cover the myriad of choices available to enterprising moms who choose to homeschool.

My daughter had gone through four graduations before her high school ceremony, and my son had also gone through four previous ceremonies, from preschool to middle school. Despite his lack of interest in the homeschool ceremony, our son did agree to this last ceremony, so he graduated, along with seven other young men, at a church in Hall County. All the moms have helped with the preparations, so the answer to my title question is eight, plus eight dads, and a number of siblings and friends.

Quite honestly, homeschooling has not been easy, nor inexpensive, but it is often a better plan for children. Most of the homeschool students I have met are more polite, more social, more mature, much more moral, and usually smarter than their public school peers. The bullying and moral decline evidenced in many public schools is reason enough to consider homeschooling. The main problem with it, other than time and expense, is the prejudice which is better summed up by the video than by me.

Checking in

I've been bad about not updating Pam's Pages of late. Four factors have contributed to my hiatus from the web.

First, I had "end of the quarter" duties at my technical college, which included grading a good sized stack of research papers.

Second, my son wore out his welcome at the local public school, so I have begun the "homeschooling" experience. I must say that the Hall County Home Educators have been a blessing in this endeavor. Those folks have provided advice, contacts, and they have a nifty drama club which my son is enjoying.

Third, and most significant, is my decision to have arthroscopic knee surgery between quarters. While not major surgery, in fact mine was done as an outpatient, I have had some difficulty with the recovery. The enemy of this type of surgery is swelling, and there has been a fair amount of that. My doctor promised that I could return to work if I had a "sedentary" job, but apparently mine is not sedentary enough. I've been on crutches, which makes it difficult to do many things, from grocery shopping to cooking. And certainly, it isn't easy to get upstairs to my circa 1999 PowerMac G4 desktop computer.

Finally, the reason I need that old G4 is that my new Macbook Pro is dead, and Peachmac in Athens has had trouble getting a logic board from Apple to complete the warranty repair. When I am downstairs, I am using an old Dell laptop that belongs to hubby, and it is not equipped with the latest software.

I am in hopes that I will soon ditch my crutch, finish up physical therapy, be able to stand for an appreciable amount of time, that Apple will fix my notebook computer, and that certain educators will, as one presidential candidate stated, "find a new line of work." Just now, I will keep on keeping on. I did get manage to read some good books while I have been sitting around, so I will be talking about some of those soon.