I have gotten very few raised eyebrows when I've announced to people I'm going to homeschool Emily next year.
This is either a good indication that we're on the right track, or the people around me are losing faith in public education. Maybe both? (That's not a nice thing to say though. I know a lot of public school teachers and they are heroes. But then again, even they likely agree that things have gone astray...but I digress).
Anyhow, I am very fortunate in that I work at a library that has a homeschool co-op that meets weekly and I can see firsthand the homeschool experience in action. I see the same faces every week, some working one on one, some in small groups. They all seem engaged (ok all but one. There is one little boy who clearly does not like math and he spins his chair back and forth until I'm dizzy from watching. But that woman with him is so patient, and she doesn't even know she's been a huge inspiration to me). Furthermore, a work colleague who has homeschooled both of her sons for several years has been really supportive and introduced me to so many resources! Thank you Amy!
And that is how I found myself sitting in a room with a bunch of mothers who are also looking to homeschool their children. Of course they were all on time, and I was 10 minutes late to this Co-Op Meet and Greet.
Sorry...I didn't realize it was going to be so formal. I was expecting it to be like a fair with tables, and UGH. The anxiety kicked in. Thank God Amy was there, or I would have left.
I took my seat, all the while cringing on the inside. The librarian in charge of the program was speaking about some of the legal issues with homeschooling. Legal issues? OMG what am I getting into? I don't want to pay a lawyer. I just want my kid to stop crying all the time. More anxiety. It turns out Illinois has pretty lax laws, but that isn't the case in every state. It looks like I will need to pay more attention to education laws than I have in the past in case anything does change. Yikes.
This was followed by a dozen or so cooperatives introducing themselves and their philosophies. Each group seemed to have a different approach, which I thought was great as each homeschool family would have different interests and needs. Some focused on providing science education and the ability to do labs or hands-on work that would be hard to do alone. Others offered art. Several seemed like they had a pretty rigid curriculum, but this was balanced by loosey-goosey programs that let the kids decide what to focus on. There were sports camps, and one Skokie based co-op offered AP High School classes taught by college professors. What? This is nothing short of amazing! It felt like everyone in the room was concerned with the well-being of the children, and getting them invested in learning, rather than focusing on test-taking. How refreshing! Not once did I hear the words assessment or rubric or learning outcomes.
It truly did run the gambit, although I did notice that most (all but one?) wanted the parents to sign a statement of faith as a part of being accepted into the co-op.
Uh-oh.
What is this statement you speak of?
Disclaimer number two. My children are not baptized, because my husband is a Buddhist and I am what I like to think of as a Bhakti Buddhist. (This doesn't even exist, but the teachings of Ram Dass and Lama Surya Das have always appealed to me and that's kinda their gig.) Anyhow, my kids don't have any particular views, since Ryan and I both feel they need to find their faith on their own. Is this going to be a problem? We don't have any issues with exposing Emily to the Christian worldview. But I also need to know she isn't going to be shamed for my beliefs.
Hopefully I am just making a big deal out of nothing. This is all new, and I don't want to make any waves. Plus, anxiety. But I also want to ensure that Emily has a place where she can go every week to spend time with her peers, make friends, and learn new perspectives. And maybe, just maybe, she could bring some new perspectives into the classroom.
We will see! (Fingers crossed)
Hey Momma Ivy,
ReplyDeleteLots to unpack here! First, your area is amazingly well organized. I don't think we have such co-op meet and greets by me. We did join HSLDA, which is an advocacy organization, for a few reasons. One was that they do provide legal help related to homeschooling if needed. They also provide teacher IDs which are good for some of the museums. We have not joined a co-op as there are few by us and the ones that I have seen just don't fit us. But there are some Facebook groups that get together quite a bit and provide social, academic, crafty, etc type meetings. You kind of participate at the level you are comfortable with. And they tend to be much more open minded about faith.