I am a homeschool mother of 3 children. There are pros and cons to homeschooling. For our family, the pros outweighed the cons. My 8yr. old son has ADHD and does much better in a homeschool environment with less medication and more behavioral training. We had seriously considered placing our 6th grade daughter in public school ( because that is what she wanted ) until she blossomed to a 34DD in 8 months. I feared that at this critical age her self esteem would be harmed way too much to chance placing her in public middle school. I asked her to write me a paper about what she liked about herself and what she would change if she could. I honestly thought she would say she would change her chest size. I got back a paper that said:
Dear Mom;
I like myself just fine. I am just how God wants me to be. I don't listen to people who say my chest is too big because I know that is what makes me just like you. I am glad you make me walk on the treadmill everyday to stay healthy. I am glad dad is teaching me the guitar. I tried but I could not think of anything I would change about myself. Love, Brie
I believe there are public school children who have self esteem and self confindence like my daughter, but I don't this I am going to change a formula that is working for our family. I have happy, healthy children. They are active in, church, community service, and have a large peer group.
Homeschooling has to be a personal choice. It takes commitment and dedication to ensure that children are active physically and socially. I think it takes the same commitment for parents of public school children.
I think it takes alot of trial and error to determine what works best in a family and I don't believe that any choice that is made, be it public school, private school, or homeschooling, if both parents cannot agree.
