Deciding to Home school...
Sorry if this is really long…
Today I took my daughter out of school and I will home school her. She is 14 and is my youngest daughter :D…
For a while now she has been unhappy & there has been some bullying, but overall she feels like it’s the last place in the world she wants to be.
Many days she would cry going and cry when she got home & in the space of a few short months she became withdrawn & everything just so overwhelming for her.
She was drowning in her own feelings of desperation.
We tried working with the school to get her back there on a part-time timetable, only going in for certain lessons or working in the library… But even the measures offered were not the right things for her.
At home she feels safe and her brothers and sister have been so supportive. They all had such a hard time throughout school too. They are all older teenagers now and have left or are just finishing school. They know how it is for her.
I have been a single parent for the last 8 years and have 4 teenage children. I work part time and run our home the best way I can. We don’t have a lot but we are happy :D
We have all experienced domestic abuse, both emotionally, verbally & physically from their father, my ex-husband. He and I were married for 17 years. Life has been hard.
So today I finally removed her from school and will educate her at home. This is what is best for her. It has not been a decision taken lightly but, I know it is the right thing to do.
The school environment is toxic. Over the years I have heard teachers yell at students, students yell at other students, Students yell at teachers, receptionists and administrators talk to students like they were dirt. I have listened to teachers struggle their way through lessons because of the chaos in their class. The homework is a joke, there are only 24 hours in a day… my child needs to sleep for at least 8 of those, be at school for 7, travel for 2, get ready for school/bed for 1, family/meal times for 2, social/friends time 1, homework for 4… you do the maths… :(
So this is where my daughter spends nearly 7 hours of her day, 5 days a week…. What can she possibly learn while she is there? And all the while her spirit is being crushed…
Teachers often do a fantastic job under incredibly difficult circumstances. They work with huge class sizes, limited resources & each child often has very different needs, it is not easy.
So I will take my child home…. and I will teach her english & maths & history (because she enjoys it :D) & photography because that’s fun too… & how to cook decent meals with little money & how to manage bills & household expenses. How to unblock a drain and wire a plug, how to take care of animals and the biology of little critters :D How we can play an active part in animal welfare. The biology of the amazing human body, how to do CPR and help someone in an accident, how to survive a zombie apocalypse and where, acoustically, is the best place is to sit in the cinema…. How people choose to have different relationships that we may not have considered. To not be ignorant of others cultures, religions and way of life, to accept and embrace all people. To know what it is to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual, transgender, Bigender, genderless…. the list will go on and these will be very interesting lessons. :D My son (18) is Bisexual and my daughter (20) is gender neutral. These things are very important to get right. How to take care of people less fortunate than ourselves, who may be homeless for instance. How to understand mental illness and what we can do to help. One son has ADHD & the other ADD, My eldest daughter suffers with depression and social anxiety. What can we do for them? To enjoy theatre productions at the cinema and to read and find out what the hell Shakespeare was really on about… To make and eat cookies. To listen to music, watch films, learn poetry, write stories, knit, sew, paint, design, create, invent…. blow stuff up…. :D
So I guess the whole point of this post is to say… that no matter what has happened to you, to your family, how poor you are, how little you have, how much or how little time you have… It is our job, as a parents, to take care, love and nurture our children until they are able to stand up and do it for themselves.
To love them unconditionally…no matter what…forever…
Life is not fair, that’s the way it is. But for our children, we have to make it better that that.
As a parent, I must do what is right for them not what is easy for me.
Please listen to what your child says about school, because chances are they are right when they say they would rather be anywhere else.
And if taking a child out of a stifling, toxic, fucking awful environment is what needs to happen, then do it.
