I don’t necessarily agree with pulling out of public schools. I am an evangelical that teaches in liberal Maryland. It is tough. I have three little children. Two of which are in elementary school. The elementary school is excellent. However, I am concerned about middle school and beyond. I have considered homeschooling during the middle school years and sending the kids back to high school. A lot of it depends upon their maturity level and how grounded they are. I don’t think it is time to leave Egypt yet.
Egypt? or Sodom? Lot was told to run and don’t look back.
Try it out. Speaking as a former public school teacher, I can say it was life changing and I will never go back to the public schools. Your priorities will also shift more towards your family than they already are.
I can cater to the learning needs of my children, take as many field trips as I want, choose the curriculum that works the best for my children, school year-round if I want so we can take more field trips to places further than 30 minutes from our home.
We are in several homeschool support groups which have Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Book Clubs, Robotics Clubs, Chess Clubs, sports associations, regular park days, co-op classes, girls’ activities, boys’ activities, swim team, band, football, choir... you name it and they have thought of it. There are so many social things on the calendar I could not possibly fit everything into our schedule. I don’t even try to. We have found the ones we like and pretty much stick to those.
Another thing to keep in mind is that while it can get to be expensive, it really does not have to cost that much. Before I was homeschooling, my son was in a private Christian school, and I was expecting our daughter. I had taken the year off teaching. My husband and I went through expenses and income, specifically my income as a teacher. We found that it was actually more costly for remain teaching. All of my income and more would go towards day care and afterschool care. So, my staying home with the baby was actually saving us money.
Additionally, I already knew some of the things that I didn’t want to use with my children, and some things I wanted to use with them. A little research and you can find a lot of things available online for a small fee or even free. Ambleside Online is one of the free curricula. Most of what is available to private Christian schools is also available to homeschoolers.
Seriously, you could homeschool your children with a Bible and a library card and have everything covered, though I don’t do that because my children are noisy and I like having the books we use within reach any time we need them. (I confess. I am a bibliophile. I love books, and I surround my children with them. Our living room is now the family library.)
“I don’t think it is time to leave Egypt yet.”
I imagine there were Hebrews in Pharoh’s time who wanted to “work within the system” even after that strange, white- haired fellow with the staff showed up.