Home School, Anyone?
Victoria Hardy
October 03, 2007
I never cared for school, in my family it is told that I came home from my first day of first grade and declared I was never going back. Of course, I went back, but my attitude never changed, I didn’t enjoy school. I enjoyed learning and reading, but I didn’t like the lines, the noisy crowds, the organized sporting games and the general sense that we must all think and act the same.
My son also struggled in school, although he didn’t mind the social aspects of it, he did have trouble keeping up with his peers academically. My son also developed some health problems at 9 years old, and after one particularly traumatic and extended hospital stay, I decided to try home schooling. It wasn’t an easy decision and I felt the weight of my responsibility, but my conscience told me I could not send him back in an environment full of struggles when he had barely just escaped with his life.
Thus, I became a teacher and looking back I have to say it was the best decision I have ever made as both a parent and a human being. Next month will be the 5th anniversary of my son’s death, it was nothing so dramatic as his illness that took him, he was simply a pedestrian and died quietly and unseen on the side of the road. I’ve come a long way since then and time does ease the wounds of loss, but I know that those two years spent together, learning in his time, exploring ideas, books and science have given me a vast drawer of happy memories to draw from when I miss my son. And I also know that when he stepped back into public education he excelled for the first time in his school career, his academic problems behind him.
I recognize the importance of education, but sometimes I truly wonder about the direction our public schools are taking and I understand that learning is more than staying in line and doing as we are told. The decisions of our schools have been in the headlines quite a bit of late and it seems the stories make less sense and grow stranger with each passing day.
In Arizona the courts have ruled that a13-year-old girl’s rights were not violated after a strip search was performed by Safford Middle School officials looking for ibuprofen (Advil). After two students informed school officials that the girl had ibuprofen on her person, the vice-principle, nurse and an administrative assistant called the student into an office where she was made to expose her breasts and pubic area to them.
My son also struggled in school, although he didn’t mind the social aspects of it, he did have trouble keeping up with his peers academically. My son also developed some health problems at 9 years old, and after one particularly traumatic and extended hospital stay, I decided to try home schooling. It wasn’t an easy decision and I felt the weight of my responsibility, but my conscience told me I could not send him back in an environment full of struggles when he had barely just escaped with his life.
Thus, I became a teacher and looking back I have to say it was the best decision I have ever made as both a parent and a human being. Next month will be the 5th anniversary of my son’s death, it was nothing so dramatic as his illness that took him, he was simply a pedestrian and died quietly and unseen on the side of the road. I’ve come a long way since then and time does ease the wounds of loss, but I know that those two years spent together, learning in his time, exploring ideas, books and science have given me a vast drawer of happy memories to draw from when I miss my son. And I also know that when he stepped back into public education he excelled for the first time in his school career, his academic problems behind him.
I recognize the importance of education, but sometimes I truly wonder about the direction our public schools are taking and I understand that learning is more than staying in line and doing as we are told. The decisions of our schools have been in the headlines quite a bit of late and it seems the stories make less sense and grow stranger with each passing day.
In Arizona the courts have ruled that a13-year-old girl’s rights were not violated after a strip search was performed by Safford Middle School officials looking for ibuprofen (Advil). After two students informed school officials that the girl had ibuprofen on her person, the vice-principle, nurse and an administrative assistant called the student into an office where she was made to expose her breasts and pubic area to them.
Print
Email
