There are many reasons parents choose to homeschool their children. Some parents seek stronger academics while others look to escape common core curriculum. Many parents tout the benefit of time together as a family and opportunity to influence their children according to the family’s beliefs and values. Still other parents appreciate the added safety homeschool can provide.
Safety for her children is something for which Cheryl Morris a homeschool mom from Moore, OK, is thankful. Cheryl wrote the following:
I never planned to homeschool. I grew up in public and private school. Although I did not have a great experience in school, I still felt it was the best education I could provide for my kids. When my son was ready to begin school it became obvious that the school district would not be able to provide the education he needed and deserved. We decided to keep him home for a year or two. We intended to enroll him in school for second or third grade.
I quickly found that I loved teaching my son. I could not imagine sending him away for half of the day. We have bumped heads over school on many occasions, but we still prefer homeschooling over the other options.
Homeschooling has allowed us to enjoy more family time than many other people. I teach dance in the evenings and my husband works during the day 3-4 days a week. We would have minimal time as a family if it were not for our education choices. My kids crave family time. The more we are together, the more they want us to be together. I am thankful for the time we have to spend together with our children.
We are members of a support group and a co-op. Our children attend dance and theatre classes as well as Sunday school. They have many friends, but their closest friends are their siblings and cousins. I have many close childhood friends, but the most important friends my husband and I have as adults are our siblings and my cousins. I want my kids to have strong bonds with the people who will be there for them their whole lives.
In the past year there have been three specific incidences where I was thankful that my children were home with me and not in school. Our neighborhood school was put on lockdown when a gun was found in the building. A few months later, a bank was robbed nearby and the school was again on lockdown. All of the students in the school were safe in both instances, but a school lockdown can be a scary experience for some kids and I know that my daughter would not have handled those situations well.
The third instance was the tornado in Moore, OK on May 20, 2013. We live a few blocks from the Plaza Towers Elementary where 7 students died. They were all the same age as my son was at the time. My children would have attended that school if they were not homeschooled. I cannot imagine the pain their families experienced and are still feeling. I also know that many of the surviving children will be dealing with the after effects of the tornado for years to come.
My children went to spend the day in Edmond with my parents. They were having a great time in Mema and Papa’s large shelter. They were nowhere near the tornado and did not know how close it was to us until we brought them home and drove them through the neighborhood a week later.
My mom, my sister, and other family members have all expressed how thankful they are for our choice to homeschool. I know some of the teachers at the school; I know they did an amazing job protecting their students. If my kids had been in school, I know they would have been well cared for, but I am exceedingly thankful for the freedom we have to keep our children at home.
Copyright © 2014 J. Hoffman / Global Student Network
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Email: JHoffman@GlobalStudentNetwork.com