The year was 1985. As my husband and I were cleaning up after dinner one night, we listened to the news on the radio. They were talking about a new law in Florida that made it legal to homeschool in our state. We didn't even have any children yet, but my husband's ears perked up. This was important to know. This was really good news!
He related to me how he had asked his mom once, when he was very young, why he couldn't just learn at home. Shocked by such an idea, his mother had looked at him, and said, "You have to go to school! They would put us in jail if you stayed home!" It just never made sense to him. His teacher would penalize him for doing homework on one subject while she was lecturing in another. (He still has the uncanny ability to read a book and listen to someone speaking at the same time.) She would reprimand him for coloring a frog red instead of green. (Somewhere along the way, he had seen a photograph of a poison dart frog that made an impression on him.) School was no place for creativity or individuality. The teacher told his mother that he would never make anything of himself if he didn't follow her directions. (Did I mention that my husband is now a PhD?)
My experience with school wasn't much better. My dad had taught me to read when I was four. I still remember proudly reading Mr. Pine's Mixed Up Signs by Leonard Kessler to my kindergarten class. I was extremely frustrated sitting there, listening to classmates struggle to read simple words. My grades were good enough, but my report card always came home with the comment, "Does not put forth best effort." I was bored. Then there was The Machine. The teachers were obsessed with increasing our reading speed. So they used a contraption that flashed the words to a story on a screen, then quizzed us on our comprehension of what we had read. Never mind actually enjoying the story; a person must read fast! But of course, we never read good classic children's literature. Instead we were subjected to "readers" with mediocre stories, carefully crafted by educators and guaranteed to make reading a chore, rather than a joy. When I was required to do a serious research paper in 11th grade, my topic was about education -- and my paper was 20 pages long!
Besides our personal experiences, we had other reasons for our interest in home education. My husband taught at a large parochial high school at the time. It was an excellent school whose graduates were highly successful. It was also very expensive. On the other hand, we were unimpressed with what we saw in the local public schools. And we had become committed Christians, desiring to do all things to the glory of God. The public school system just didn't teach or support our values. When we had children, we didn't want them to be taught things that opposed our faith.
Right then and there, I determined to find out all I could about homeschooling. I wanted to be prepared. And so my research began. First stop: the public library.
Be sure to come back next week, for part 3 of my homeschooling series! You can sign up, on the right, to follow by email. That way, you won't miss a post!
I've just gotten around to catching up on these posts, Jude. I remember that crazy machine they made us read from line by line, as they increased the speed throughout the school year. Ugh! So many modes of teaching that just didn't make sense! I guess they thought it was in our best interest at the time. One thing I learned from this post - that prior to 1985 homeschooling was illegal in Florida. I guess I thought it had been around for awhile by then.
ReplyDeleteThere were some families homeschooling in Florida before 1985, but they would form a "private school" with several families in order to do it. The homeschooling law spelled out the rules and eliminated questions about legality, making it unnecessary to form a school. It also eliminated harassment by school districts, since there were clear procedures to follow, for both the district and the parents, in order to comply
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