Day 22: What Makes Me Sad

Actually, Day 22 is supposed to be a rant, but as this topic makes me sad, not mad, I changed it.

This was a hard post for me to write.  It's a hard issue for my heart.

Please allow me to preface by saying that this post is in NO way meant to offend or insult those who choose to home-school their children.  It is certainly a significant and noble undertaking.  I have many friends who were home-schooled and many others who currently home-school their own children.  I can appreciate and support their decisions whole-heartedly.

But home-schooling still makes me sad, and this post is simply an explanation of why it does so.

• Because people are dissatisfied with the public school system.  I totally get this.  There all kinds of problems.  Bullying on the playground.  Ineffective teachers.  Districts choosing to employ curriculum that beats only the content of the state assessment into kids' heads instead of skills significant to the real world.  A lack of differentiation in both instruction and assessment.  Pacing that moves too slow for some kids and too fast for others, because HELLO, we've got state assessments in two months and we've got to get through it.  Not enough enrichment for high learners.  Not enough support for the low ones.  Not enough attention for the middle-of-the-road performers.  If someone is home-schooling their children because of religious reasons, that opens a completely separate can of worms.  Some public schools teach evolution as fact rather than theory.  Some schools teach BCE (before common era) instead of BC (before Christ).  I could go on and on.  Believe me, folks - I'm a public school educator.  I GET IT.  I wish it were better.  I wish the public school system was worth the faith of today's parents.  I truly do.

• Because there are a lot of really fabulous teachers out there.  That's not to say that parents aren't, or that every teacher is, but there is something about a good teacher.  Will you allow me to quote one of the best teachers alive?  She says this about teaching:

       "Teaching is a passion that seeps into a person's blood. Once it is there, each day becomes a new adventure with new ideas; 'wonder what the kids will think about...; wow, that concept never occurred to me.' The grand reward comes from a constant well spring of new perspectives - fresh thoughts from fresh minds. Of course, the challenge is to give each fresh mind the motivation to think - to think independently and deeply. That is when the teacher's heart skips a beat and then races through the proverbial happy dance."

There are some teachers who really believe this and embody it to the fullest extent.  Many of them teach in my building.

• Because (and this is the big one) these students, who would otherwise be having a positive impact on their publicly-schooled peers, are kept at home. In my experience, (I teach middle school) the number one factor in a student's success is his/her parents.  Parents who care enough to educate their children at home obviously care enough to teach their children character, and in many cases, faith.  These students are models for other students who don't have similar home situations.  Students who don't have support at home (and please please believe me when I tell you that these students are plentiful - even in my affluent district) have school, and most of the time, that's it.  It's why we have so many behavioral problems before Christmas break or the summer.  Some of these kids don't want to be home because home is unstructured, unstable, and, in some cases, unsafe.  For these kids, teachers and fellow classmates are the only people from whom they can learn life.  Teachers are great...but we can only do so much.  Fellow students are where the difference really comes into play.  I have watched good, solid kids help unstable, needy kids.  I have watched kids whose home lives are train wrecks learn how to be successful.  It can happen.  But it won't happen if all the kids who have the skills to come alongside them and help them learn to succeed are kept home.

Sigh.  I wish things were different.  I wish the public school system was better.  I wish every teacher was as good as Mrs. B.  I wish kids who have it rough could learn from kids who have it sweet.  Actually, if I'm wishing for things, I wish every kid could have it sweet.  I wish they all could have parents who love them, discipline them, sacrifice for them, hurt for them, model for them, pray for them, dream for them.  Imagine what life would be like if our society turned out children with these kinds of parents!  Imagine what would happen to drop-out rates.  Crime rates.  Suicide rates.

Again, these things make me sad.  Not angry, or judgmental, or pious - just sad.  This glorious land of freedom in which we live grants us the right to decide what to do with our children.  That right is free to be exercised by parents in whichever manner they choose, and to those who choose to home-school, more power to you, and what a set of challenges you face!  I recently read this amazing article about homeschooling blind spots - it was endorsed by Joshua Harris and was extremely enlightening.  I couldn't do it - I need people smarter than me to teach my kids!  And for those who choose to send your students to public school, thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottoms of the hearts of teachers everywhere, for sending your leaders into our schools.  Their impact is measureless.