Skool sux

Homeschooling is on the rise.

I used to be an avid advocate of public school.  I envisioned homeschooling as something Amish families did at 5 in the morning before going out and milking the cows.  It has evolved quite a bit from my delusioned ideas.

Statistics show that homeschooling is growing at a steady rate of 15% annually.  Families are turning more towards online education.  So why the steady incline?   According to NCES (Nationwide Middle for Training Statistics) 80% of parents chose to home school their children due to dissatisfaction of the public school environment.

That is no shocker there.  I remember going to school and teachers genuinely cared if I excelled or not.  I had one teacher that made a few snide comments occasionally but he still took the time to make sure I understood the lessons and if I didn't he took the time to help.  I had many teachers that had such a heart for teaching that they were emotionally connected to their students.  They would cry with them in their sorrows and share their laughter in their joys.  They wanted to see their students excel beyond their imagination.

"I could care less about your life outside of this school."


"You are a poor role model and you will never get a job."

"Are you retarded?"

These are the words spoken by various teachers throughout the years to my daughter.  This is not just one teacher, one school.  They were from three separate teachers, from two different schools.  Does this sound encouraging?  Does this sound like someone who wants my child to excel to her fullest potential?

We send our children to a building with various adults and many other children for 7 hours a day and a minimum of 12 years.  Those years are pivotal in a child's development - emotionally as well as academically.  Yet we send them with the best intentions, trusting that they are getting the education that they deserve.  My, have times changed!

I tried homeschooling when my daughter was in 6th grade.  There was an incident that was quite traumatic for her and I will spare the details as to not embarrass her.  It was enough that I pulled her immediately.  We were told the principal would like to speak to us to address the matter because of his concern.  When we got there we were told "he was gone".  When we told the secretary we were there to see about pulling our daughter from school they said "get her stuff and take her".  When we explained she wanted to finish out the day to say good-by to her friends, we were told, "she doesn't need to be here, grab her art of the wall and take her now."   They didn't even ask why or show any concern what so ever.

So I home schooled her the remainder of that year and then the first semester of her 7th grade year until we moved.  At that point, we decided to enroll her into the new school district, hoping location would make the difference.  At first, all was well....but then the bullying and the pressure started.  Work was given that she didn't understand and that wasn't explained to her.....teachers acted like it was a 'bother' when she would ask for any extra help.  She would sign up to volunteer or participate in things and be excluded, so on and so forth. This continued and I would sit her down and tell her to fight through it and do the best she could.  Her grades began to suffer.

Education is vital in my world.  Intelligence is something no one can take from you.  Therefore, when I saw her grades suffering, I knew something was up.  She would turn in assignments and the teacher would say she didn't.  Then when I would email and threaten to come in there, the assignment would show up in a matter of moments.  This happened numerous times.  My daughter would come home in sour moods and talk about how cruel some of the other students were - if not to her, to others.  She would show me the text messages and the emails of the girls that do those things just to be spiteful.  Words that made my daughter devalue herself.  Whether the words were intended to be that way or whether my daughter is being "overly dramatic" (another term teachers like to use), is not the issue.  The issue is no matter if the situations are as harsh as she makes them out to be, in her mind they are just that bad.  In her mind, they are creating a world that she begs to not be part of. 

This past incident wasn't a severely traumatic thing - just some more cyber bullying but nothing that most girls don't do - being catty, as my mom would say.  I suppose it was the straw that broke the camel's back.  So I thought long and hard about it.  I just want her to be happy.  Isn't that any parent's dream?  - their child to be happy and to succeed far greater than they had?

So why would I want to send her to a place that eats her alive then spits her out?  I was always worried about social skills with her because she enjoys having friends and hanging out with others and being home schooled would make that difficult.  Then I thought - why would I want to send her somewhere that creates an environment where she is an outsider looking in?  The beauty is - I. Don't. Have. To.

Homeschooling today is so much different than it used to be.  Everything can be done online and many are accredited.  A recent law states that colleges cannot discriminate on where a student receives their diploma which benefits homeschoolers.  

So, with that being said, my daughter will officially be pulled out of school tomorrow and begin her homeschooling journey.  My son, on the other hand, prefers to go to public school.  That is his choice.  He does well and doesn't seem to have any major issues and if he does, they don't effect him as much as they effect her. 

I guess I am a little sad.  Not sad that she is going to be home schooled but sad that the school system seems to be declining.  To most (not all), it is merely a job to sustain a living....the heart is no longer in it.  The love of children and education is no longer as much of a factor as the paycheck (which is ridiculous in itself).  Those endearing teachers that would hug you when you missed school, checked up on you if you were sick, would stop the bullying instead of turning the other way.....they are all dead and gone.

No.  I am not sad.  I am mournful.  Mournful of what once was but is now long dead.