Homeschooling

It's infuriating to be a homeschool mom some days, especially days like today. There are always going to be naysayers that say you cannot homeschool properly. There are always going to be people telling you how to do it, that you are doing it wrong, and that the public school system is better equipped. For the most part I've always just shrugged off what people say, because well, we tried that. The Public school system failed my daughter!! And if I'm honest, it never did me any favors either. I graduated high school and went on to College, I actually have a degree in Elementary Education, with a specialization in Special Needs. However, public school was a joke in the 80's and 90's and definitely isn't any better now, either. Back then I was passed along and everyone always assumed I knew how to do something, but never took the time to actually sit down and teach me. 13 schools between Kindergarten and 12th grade is entirely too many, and only made me struggle and try harder than all of my peers because I didn't know how to do most things. I actually have taught myself more things as an adult than any teacher taught me as a child in the public school system.

Today, I was essentially called not only stupid, but a bad mom because I have decided to not teach my daughter certain things because I feel they're unnecessary. I get so infuriated at the audacity of some people. First, we have my side of the family who initially thought I was crazy for wanting to homeschool my youngest. I proved them wrong (That's my favorite thing to do...prove people wrong.). Then I had to deal with my ex-husband (my daughter's biological father) who didn't seem to have much faith in me because I wasn't purchasing a curriculum. And now I have a very good friend, who in reality has always been my biggest cheerleader, until today apparently.

I'll be honest, my homeschool does NOT look like traditional school.

For me, that is the point!! My daughter is dyslexic, and unless you know what that is like because you have it personally or because you have done your own research into it, you have no idea what it is like to teach someone with dyslexia. The public school system did nothing for her. They passed her along each year whether she learned what was required or not. They didn't care. And it wasn't until the "plandemic" that I even realized how much she was struggling. Maybe that makes me a bad mom, but I just didn't see it. I know now that there were a ton of things she was lacking in.

I withdrew her from Public School in September of 2021, and immediately started trying to figure out what she knew and what she didn't. The first few months were a lesson in patience. We struggled for a little bit as to what our normal day would look like, but then I remembered that I was homeschooling and our "normal" day could look however we wanted it to. Some days we do book work, some days we do something outside in the greenhouse, or garden. Sometimes we take a field trip to a historical site or museum. There are days that we do nothing but homesteading and cooking. There are even days when we do absolutely nothing. My point here is that my homeschool looks nothing like a public classroom, and it's all entirely on purpose. I will never claim to be the smartest or even the most educated person. Nor will I claim to know what is the best way to teach or parent a child. But that doesn't give anyone, and I do mean ANY ONE the right to criticize me, the way I teach or the way I parent. Especially someone who doesn't have children. Or people that walked out of their child's life, and then one day just decided to be a parent again. If you haven't been there day in and day out of this wonderful young woman's life, then you have no right to try to tell me that I'm doing it wrong. There is only one person allowed to judge me, and that is God. And you are definitely not Him.

I know this turned into a rant instead of an educational post, but I'm so tired of people trying to tell me how to teach and parent my daughter. I hope you enjoyed the picture dump, these are all things we've done while homeschooling. It's very unconventional, but we never said we were conventional. We only strive to live our life as God has tasked us to.