School or Home School?

I promise, David picks the most random times to have conversations, but I love him for it. This morning (too early) we were in the ER for something that falls under the previous paranoid post. All things were fine in the end and we're waiting on discharge papers when he brings up home school.

David's little sister (who is 9 1/2) is currently home schooled. His younger brother was home schooled part of his schooling. David was never home schooled. His own experiences create his opinion. Which is likely the same case with me.

There are justifiable reasons he has for home schooling our kids. Mostly in relation to exposure to drugs, alcohol, and other aspects of life that are not necessary for a child's proper upbringing. I agree. There are bad things in the schools. I can't not agree when all I do is work with kids who are in the school system on a daily basis.

I make arguments for socialization. Learning coping skills. Learning how to deal with people you don't necessarily like. Having opportunities (early) to teach our children to make good choices. Windows for teaching moments are opened at times by things kids hear at school. And others.

To top it off, I pay taxes. I pay for the school, right, so why not get my money's worth? Then there's that selfish part of me that thinks if I home school my kids and I end up having more than I can handle, will I end up overextending myself and becoming one of "those" parents that don't have the energy to love their kids. So, yeah, I will one day look forward to the day when all my kids are in school so I can get all the housework done, grocery shopping without someone hanging on my legs, maybe relax and read. To top it all off, I'd like to go back to maintaining clients and keeping up my training during school hours.

It's just a decision that needs to be taken more seriously. I understand the arguments against it, but if I take every opportunity to educate my kids then they will (hopefully) know how to recognize a bad situation, to know to get out of it, and how to get out of it. Maybe I'm in La La Land thinking it's possible, but I never touched the stuff and my parents certainly weren't perfect. So, it's possible.

At least I have five years to make the decision.