Tis the Season – Why MUST 5 Year Olds Go To School?

Photo Credit to whgrad on Flickr

I’ve already “heard” it on Facebook:

“It’s almost time to register my 5 year old for kindergarten. I’m so sad . . .”

It makes ME sad that so many people believe sending their small children away from home is a given, the norm. Why can’t they just step back and ask themselves, “Why?” If the answer to that question cause them to continue their plans for public school, terrific. Most children that come through the public education system do just fine in life. However, it really disturbs me that people don’t even realize they are allowed to ask the question.

There are as many reasons to homeschool as there are families. Some choose to home educate their children for religious reasons. Others for health or political reasons. Many families just want to keep the family together and not delegate what they consider to be their parental duty or right to others. That is all very general. You might fall into one or more of those categories or have reasons completely different. All of the reasons are right and none of them are wrong. My family falls into several of those categories.

Stability

We began our family as foster parents, and one of our children had problems (she was 5). In my mind, the ABCs paled in comparison to her emotional stability. I asked for, and received permission to homeschool her. That was the first reason we chose home-schooling – to assist foster children in bonding with a family and to gain self-confidence and emotional stability.

Values

We had some foster children in public school and ran head-long into teachings that went against our personal beliefs and the sex education agenda. We were not in a position to remove these particular children from the public school, but it did open our eyes. We did not want our children to be indoctrinated with the social reform agenda, and we became more committed than ever to homeschooling when we had children of our own.

Religion

Religion has been a reason for us in the context that we believe religion is incorporated in everything we do, and that is how we teach.  As you are figuring what you want to do, and how you want to do it, I encourage you to seek out homeschoolers that share your faith or domination, and ask them for curriculum recommendations.  If religion is a non-issue for you, and you actually want to avoid it, there are many homeschool curriculum and programs that are completely secular.

Politics

Is one supposed to adhere to the rule not to speak of religion and politics while writing a blog post? I have already broken half of that rule; here goes the second half!!! We have somewhat passionate views politically, and suffice it to say they are not in keeping with the government education program.   We believe in parental choice in education. Again, whether you are liberal or conservative, you can share your values with your children any way you want!!!!

If you are finding yourself lamenting about registering your child for school, take a breath and ask yourself “Why?” You do not HAVE to send them. You do NOT have to have a good reason. You can wait six months, or a year, or never send them at all. YOU are the authority of YOUR child. If you are having misgivings, reconsider!

Now the biggest question of all: Why do YOU want to homeschool? When you answer that question for yourself, you will be in a better position to figure out the “how.”

About Robin Egerton

Robin Egerton has written 84 posts in this blog.

Robin considers herself a "Baby Prepper" - that is, she is not preparing for a Zombie Apocolypse, but is proficient at preparing for emergencies. The most current project at her homestead is establishing sustainable gardening in raised beds. She is an experienced homeschooler and has extensive experience in fostering and adopting. After several years as a foster parent, Robin and her husband adopted a total of five children and later began a homesteading project. Robin learned to raise chickens, sheep and dogs. After growing extensive gardens and planting an orchard, the produce is canned and added to the food storage pantry to this day. When life with teens became extraordinarily hectic, Robin began putting her canning energy into preparing her own convenience foods. Robin's hobbies are knitting, crocheting, genealogy and she will soon be joining the world of amateur photography. All of Robin's interests can be found on her blog www.RobinsCozyNest.Webbly.com

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