Secret Knowledge of a Homeschool Mom! "What every homeschool mom wants to say to the world of public school."

Hello Again, (no time to edit so I don't wanna hear about type errors, I know they are there!) LOL

I hope this day finds you doing well & enjoying the gorgeous weather! The topic today is homeschooling & raising children :) Chances are, you will not agree with this article... and that's okay. I don't care. That is the beauty of us all on our own paths, we are all struggling for our own truths in our lives. What I hope you get out of it is an ounce of conviction and a pound of surrender equalling a better you loving your kids.

This is a VERY hot topic if you get any group of women together, it is almost as hot of a topic as stay at home moms versus working moms. Why? Because a lot of toes and pride quickly gets stepped on. (And you have to ask yourself why? Why would someone's PRIDE be stepped on about NOT being a full time parent? They will pick on that word, FULL TIME, parent... they will dissect this topic a hundred different ways. Everyone wants to be considered full time no matter if they only spend 5 hrs a day with their kids while other moms spend 24 hours a day. Though if we were speaking of a job outside the home, anything under 40 hours would be considered part-time!) Hmm?

The facts are in and across the board homeschooled kids are scoring higher than their public schooled peers. That and the facts that they do not have to compete for attention and get all the one on one they need, starts to tip the scale. The old argument, no matter how ignorant it was, that homeschool kids couldn't possibly get as socialized as public school kids is like saying you aren't socialized. I actually laugh about this one because you see, I can see this topic from both perspectives because one of my children is public schooled and five are home schooled. And I would choose how my homeschooled kids are socialized 100 times over how my public school child is socialized. It's the difference between night and day. And I chose the light!

I have seen the effects of public school and it is horrible. I've seen the good the bad and the ugly and public schools are not a place for thriving kids. This old argument is now one of the past as cities' recreation departments and churches are rising up and offering the homeschooled kids football, baseball, soccer, theater, drama, cheerleading, arts,activities and teams! So if the homeschooled kids are now involved in more extra-curricular activities than their peers, scoring higher in nationwide testing and usually expressing a more calm demeanor along with more general respect, a love for God, a love of country, and of family... the public schools are obviously on the losing side now, and therefore forcing some scofferes to take a second look.

It's just like the argument of whether we should ship the kids off to daycare or raise them ourselves? I'm sorry folks, I think this one is a no brainer. Actually, I think all these topics are no brainers but I can say that because I've been through the fire and I've lived the good, the bad, and the ugly with experiences from one extreme to the other. I was the popular kid in school, the head cheerleader, the homecoming queen, the good student in public school and guess what? I still hated it and if I was treated the way some people were treated I might have snapped and grab a gun like some of these so called troubled teens have. I'm no better than anyone on this planet, but the difference between me and a lot of folks is that I have completely surrendered to God.

So what does that mean? That means that I get it, I get it that I am nothing without God. I see the mistakes I have made. Does it hurt my pride? OH YES but it isn't about me anymore, it is about my Lord and Savior. My old pride is now used to shape me into the woman God wants me to become. If that means he has convicted my heart enough to make it clear to me that I have to suck it up and actually teach my own children, then so be it. If it means I have to straighten up my life and be a reflection of how I want them to become, so be it. If it means I have to raise my children and not just HOPE that a stranger will do it as good as I can, so be it. If it means I have to get off my butt - turn off the t.v. and be a parent, so be it! If it means I will surrender to God of how many children I will have and the lifestyle we will lead, so be it. I COMPLETELY surrender my everything to God: my money, my children, my husband, my life.

So when these topics of daycare verses mom and dads raising their kids and homeschool versus public school, the list goes on and on. Come on folks, that voice in the back of your head or in your heart, that's God telling you what is right and what is not. Can kids survive public school, obviously, but should kids at such a young age be exposed to sex of all kinds, horrible language, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol... NO! It is a sewer of neglect. If you don't see it, then don't yell at me that I smell the odor and you don't, it doesn't mean the stink AIN'T THERE>

I personally have taught in the public schools and have seen the ugly for myself. Does that mean all the teachers are horrible NO!!! There are lots of fantastic wonderful teachers are in the mix - but there are also horrible ones ripping your children's self-esteem, abusing them, allowing things to happen that you would never allow at home! You know the ones I am talking about because you have met that kind of person, you have just never thought about it perhaps? You know, that kind of person that treats your children differently behind closed doors when the parents aren't around; I've seen this first hand. I've seen the opposite as well where the parents were NOT fit to take care of their own children, and it was heartbreaking to see the children go home at the end of the day. That too broke my heart. SO I DO SEE THINGS BOTH WAYS. But if the parent is competent and loving, and able, they should be teaching and caring for their own children.

You may say, well what about single parents. Well, communities and families should take care of those who say they HAVE TO WORK. The communities and families should take care of those women/men just as they take care of the orphans and widows just as the Bible instructs us to do. Because raising the kids is the most important role we have to do outside of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I've seen the ugly side of schools & life...I've been molested and even raped twice my senior year. I've seen my own child, in fourth grade, get off the school bus shaking, after hearing older boys talk about what they were going to do to a girl, in detail, of how they were going to TAKE her. I've heard first hand of my children getting yelled at by faculty for praying silently before they eat. I've heard first hand of how severe bullying goes to the extreme and when a child FINALLY defends himself, he is the one to get in trouble. I've seen the parents who mean well. I've seen the parents who use the schools as a glorified daycare. I've seen the good parents agonize over whether to keep their kids in the public schools or not. I've seen the parents fight over which is better. I've been those parents. I've been in that fire and I'm glad I found the light... the way out.

Are all parents in the place I am in and can see everything I have seen, no, and I get that. We will not all agree but let's raise our kids and be plugged in to what in the world is going on as well as taking our parental blinders off!! We can no longer HOPE everything is okay or say well our school is different. NO it is NOT. Kids are kids and they are mean when left to fend for themselves! Without parental guidance they will run wild period and they will prey on the other kids at school. Buses for one, if people have to use them, should have at least 3 adults riding on them, with authority to yell and discipline in some way, to control the behaviors which are flat out crude, rude, violent, and mean! I've witnessed 4th graders using four letter words and worse, older students talking filthy in front of the kindergarteners and even junior high and high schoolers having oral sex on the bus!

Home Schooling has been around thousands of years and most of our ancestors were upstanding wonderful people. Public schools have only been around a short time in the whole history timeline. No where else in our culture do we herd people together segregating them in age groups and hoping they will turn out okay. When was the last time all the 35 yr olds were herded together and told they have to all be taught the same thing every day or they were going to be punished? Not to mention, the slow kid in class better learn at the same rate as the honor student or he or she will be labeled for the rest of their lives as stupid... whether said out loud or not, they will always feel the stares of their peers and the rip of their self-esteems. All of that would be insane and so is this topic. It isn't a topic it is a choice of whether you are going to raise your own kids. It is a choice of whether or not you are going to teach your children in the way they should go. One public school teacher in junior high told me,"If the parents knew half of what goes on behind closed doors they would never let their children attend our school." G.W.

RAISING KIDS IS LIKE A RECIPE, THE OUTCOME IS WHAT YOU'VE THROWN INTO THE MIX!! And if they are in public school, you have no idea what has been thrown in to the mix because you are not with that child anywhere from 35 to 60 hours a week depending on sports and extra-curricular activities!


I'm tired of explaining myself. Tired of explaining why I teach my children. When did teaching our children become NOT the norm? I don't come into people's lives and question why they ship off their kids every day. So it really ticks me off to hear the ignorant question time and time again of why mine stay at home being by me. My kids are for a fact being taught with love, respect, compassion, and knowledge! They are NOT being bullied, I can say that with 100 percent accuracy, they are not holding onto their childhoods with both hands because I am their protector from this evil world until they are ready to handle it as adults. So people can raise their children however they wish (hopefully with love and respect but quit asking us homeschool moms why we teach our own children! That's like asking you why they love theirs! Because it's our God given job!)