Home School Inspiration

I recently listened to a podcast entitled “Laurette Lynn on Don’t Do Drugs, Stay Out of School” on The Survival Podcast.

Don’t Do Drugs, Stay out of School

I loved this episode! Being a mother of a two-year-old and a six-month-old, both boys, I have been thinking about home schooling in a co-op or some sort of a network of other parents who home school for awhile. Per my previous post on home schooling, I am teeter tottering on the line between home school and public or private school. This podcast pushed me closer to the side of home schooling. I worry about the lessons, values and viewpoints taught in the public school system. Especially since government regulates most of what is taught. I had a couple of history teachers who seemed to rebel against this. They threw caution to the wind and taught the truth. I am also thinking about private school but the majority of what is taught may be the same as public, I’m not sure.

While I didn’t agree with everything Laurette said…I did find inspiration and oddly, clarity of purpose in the majority of what she said. I am fortunate enough to be able to stay at home with the boys after working full-time since graduating college up until the first year and a half of my two-year-old’s life. My husband and I worked very hard to pay off our student loans and our vehicles. We had over 50,000 in debt and paid it off in little more than two years. This hard work was, in large part, inspired by this podcast. I know not everyone has the opportunity to stay at home with their children so I consider us very fortunate.

Laurette said that a full-time parent could home school. That, although more difficult, it could be done and had cases where it was successful. I am unsure of how a full-time working (outside the home) parent could have the time/ability to home school their child. I cannot imagine that my husband and I would have been able to do so with the hours we worked. Most of the time I got to the daycare at 6:30 when they closed and then it was fixing supper, playing and reading books before a 9:00 bedtime. I’m sure as they got older it would have been a bit easier but we would have still been working the same hours.

At times, I found her a bit harsh on public schools and families where both parents work. That being said, I will be listening to Laurette’s podcast and checking out her sites to find out more about home schooling. I think the most eye-opening part of the show for me was when she commented on the way language can be used to manipulate and control so it is very important to teach your child to understand language and how it can be used…something not taught in all schools.

I’m interested to hear what other parents think about this…