Homeschooling Reasons 202 or so???

Do you ever notice that sometimes a topic will come up once and then many times again over a short period of time? That's the way it's been for me this past month about homeschooling. Homeschoolers and non; friends and strangers; people who wish they were homeschooling, wish they weren't homeschooling, think they never could homeschool, think they themselves should have been homeschooled... Quite a lot of people have been sharing their views with me while asking WHY?

It's most interesting with new people we meet. It usually goes something like:
New person: "Our kids are about the same age - where do yours go to school?"
Me: (internal cringe) "This is our first full year of homeschooling..." (wait to see reaction...)
New person: "Why?" (This can mean so many things - curiousity, confusion, contempt...)

It's always so funny to see how new people we meet react to homeschooling. Some are really interested (and maybe even a little jealous); some back away, like "Oh-oh, another weirdo". Some immediately assume the said homeschooled kid had trouble in school.

So, I've been inspired to write another "Reasons Why to Homeschool" post.

When Alex was in middle school he was a "super-star student. His 6th grade teachers (incidentally - very good teachers who did their best to challenge Alex within their means) absolutely loved him - and told me many times. The principal asked him to play piano at every award ceremony - and only him, a 6th grader - no other piano playing kids were asked. His band teacher liked his attitude and loved the fact that he has perfect pitch. In fact, he thought so highly of Alex that he told him and us, several times, that Alex should not even be at that middle school. What do you do with THAT as a parent? Now couple that with the fact that at home we were witnessing this straight-A kid never practicing his band instrument, rarely doing any homework ("I finished it on the bus..."), and, while developing a typical middle school attitude (not a good thing), reveling in all the attention. Attention for what we considered mediocre work. Very mediocre. Add in the fact that Alex missed almost 5 weeks of school for sickness and a trip to Hawaii, and an additional 4 weeks at the end of the year when my mom broke her knee and we went to Chicago to help her. Note that he still earned all A's. Add in my remembering how easy school was for me - I never lifted a finger (or, rather a book) and still had all A's. And then my remembering how I went to college and it was, well, work. And, I did not know how to study, or even really want to. I wanted the easy street route - probably why I switched out of Chemical Engineering into Accounting (I know Pat is happy about this, at least sometimes...). Now, finally factor in Alex spending all his sick time at home watching the History Channel and asking to be homeschooled. Well, it all adds up - why go for mediocrity when we had the chance to do something cool and hopefully help Alex develop actual learning skills, not just getting-by (albeit, really well) and checking-the-box skills. That's where we are today. So, the kid didn't have any problems at school. Not academically and not socially (that's why he attended band and lunch during 7th grade - for "friend" time!) We had a problem not helping him live up to his high potential - in his own eyes - not just the eyes of everyone else. That's what it's all about. Now, we just need a plan to get there - but that's another post!