I don’t ever wanna hear another complaint from public school teachers about a “problem student”
Having worked in public high schools, middle schools, elementary schools and pre-K, the challenges there just don’t even stack up to the challenges of home educating your own children.
1) I bet public school teachers have never had their entire class throw a tantrum at the same time. If they have, God bless their souls, I truly and deeply feel for them.
2) Teachers in public school have students who leave after class… I live with mine. I’m my own principal, resource officer, and academic counselor; there’s nothing “above my pay grade”… I also don’t get paid.
3) There’s very little separation between personal and professional. My students have all lived in my uterus; they remember dumb things I’ve said and quote them back at me verbatim, they follow me to the bathroom and ask inappropriate personal questions, and the informality frequently leads to rabbit-trail discussions and off-topic “learning,” if you can call it that.
4) Parent teacher conferences are extra special.
Teacher me: “How are things at home?”
Mom me: “a little chaotic, actually. One is teething, one is in the defiant phase, one has a hard time accepting discipline, and I’m pregnant and overly emotional and hormonal.
Teacher me: “It just seems as if everyone is a little distracted. Today in math, your daughter put pattern blocks up her nose and your son attempted to wrap his playdough in foil and eat it like a taco…”
Mom me: “that’s nothing. My daughter ran through the yard naked other day screaming, ‘I’m David! I come at you in the name of the Lord!’ after peeing on our maple tree out back. And my son last fall flushed a dog collar, wash cloth, and a pair of underwear down the toilet, causing a major septic backup in our basement that cost us over $1600 to repair. What’s a little nasal exploration and playdough eating in the scheme of things?”
Teacher me: “I’m just concerned that maybe we aren’t taking your childrens’ education as seriously as we should be. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions?”
Mom me: “Can we make some more coffee? I’m sure it’ll be fine.” *One year old eats a crayon* “…yeah… Totally fine.”
5) There is quite a bit of freedom in home educating, which is why I choose to do it, flaws and all. At least I can choose my curriculum. I can even bring my Bible to class and preach the Gospel to my students without fear of being criticized by an irate parent and put on leave without pay…
…Then again, did I mention I don’t get paid at all?
Wholly Holy Living 