THE REWARDS OF HOME SCHOOLING
by Tina J. Garcia
My daughter became disenchanted with the public school system when her oldest son, Jonathon, was in kindergarten. She and her husband discussed the options and made the decision that she would home school their children. They felt that the benefits of instilling their belief and value system into their children’s education far outweighed the loss of social interaction from being taught at home. Jonathon is now in seventh grade and Jaeden, who is seven years old, is being schooled at home now, too. Jemuel is two and Josiah is only five months.
It has been a big commitment in time, effort and research; however, the entire family has been inspired and rewarded through their endeavor. Their children are well-educated and excel in reading skills. I would like to salute Sunshine and Jon, Sr. for their bold decision to teach their children at home!
Perhaps you find yourself in a situation in which a member of your family is unable to attend public school due to Lyme disease or another debilitating illness. If this is your situation, we would like to impart to you that home schooling can definitely be equally rewarding or more rewarding for parents and children than their experience in public school.
During an illness such as Lyme disease, when the decision to home school is forced due to the inability to attend regular public school classes, it can initially seem to be a loss of what was enjoyed before. The magnitude of your feelings of loss will depend upon the view with which you approach your new situation.
Home schooling can provide the opportunity for closer relationships, a flexible schedule to accommodate ups and downs, treatment and doctors’ appointments, one-on-one instruction, less time involved in teaching due to the concentrated quality of one-on-one instruction and the chance to incorporate your belief and value system into the curriculum. As you journey through your home school experience, you will probably notice many other benefits which you would be unable to avail yourself of through ordinary public education.
We hope that your home schooling journey is a positive experience for you, despite the difficult circumstances of chronic illness. We are glad to provide the following home school-related links, which we hope will assist you and be valuable sources of information.
Arizona Families for Home Education
Home School World for Arizona
http://www.home-school.com/groups/AZ.html
Jon’s Home School Resource
http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/listlist.html
Heart of Wisdom
Prairie Primer
http://www.lamppostpublishing.com/prairie_primer.htm