Home educating is a hundred times better than public school.

[Guest guest]

Jaynee-

Thanks for sharing your story. I too am in Michigan. It has become a state more open and friendly to homeschooling even though Michigan has a compulsory attendance law for students between the ages of 6 and 16. Most county prosecutors will not bother taking the time to prosecute parents for truant students. There are many homeschoolers in Michigan that belong to homeschool groups for social, physical education, field trips etc. Prior to being the school principal in prison I was the school administrator in a private Christian School in Michigan. I was in the process of developing a program for homeschoolers to partner with the school and receive a high school diploma. Students could take courses at the school and home school. Many parents approached me with the idea so their homeschool kids could participate in physical education, music, foreign language, higher level math and science courses, etc. I believe it would have been an awesome program if I had stayed at the school but that was not meant to be.

Kris

 

 

I went to government (they are not public by any stretch of the imagination!) schools, but my parents, particularly Dad, always enforced that all education does not take place inside of the 4 walls called a 'school'. We were frequently taken out of school for a true educational experience with the family.I wanted to hs my oldest birthie, but it simply wasn't done in the 80s, it was illegal in Michigan and I was an insecure single parent. Molly was born in 1990. In 1992, HSLDA handled a case that changed hsing in Michigan. It is now one of the most friendly to homeschoolers (in theory, anyway). It took me 7 years to convince my late husband to allow me to hs Molly. I researched, read info to him re: homeschool success, etc. The final straw was going to a first grade Parent math night where the kids got to show their parents what they were 'learning'. When Molly was scolded for doing math on paper rather than using a calculator, Paul went ballistic. She was pulled out of 'school' the next year.Paul wanted to make sure that Molly had the best education possible, so he told me to spare no expense. We went with some Rod & Staff books, and had a pretty eclectic curriculum. I did my own lesson plans and used the Bible and 'real books' rather than text books. She had been diagnosed with ADHD and we wanted to keep her off the drugs that she was on in school, so we had a learning curve. We worked within Molly's peak learning hours. That meant school started in the afternoon. She was never an early riser. Our wonderful education system had totally turned her off reading, but to Paul's chagrin, I refused to force her to read. I kept telling him that if I forced it, she would forever hate it. They had Molly in a slow learner group by the end of OCTOBER the year she turned 6 (1st grade). I refused to make her read, yet by the time she turned 8 she was reading college level books. We, too, unschooled. History was a great set of fictionalized history books. Science was often hands-on since Dad was so sick. Reading and lit was simple, since she had become a voracious reader and had read the Bronte sisters, Homer, Shakespeare, etc, etc. We went to a Shakespearean play once and got in a discussion with an usher about opera (she was 10). I just kind of rolled my eyes thinking, "She knows nothing about opera!" Molly then startled me with going into detail about a particular opera.... she saw it on TV.When Paul was in the hospital at the University of Minnesota, Molly became close friends of several of the Coeds at U. If I couldn't find her, she was probably down in the library discussing a literary favorite. They would go down to Starbucks and became close friends. She became a Library aide in the children's library and covered for the regular librarian when the librarian was on vacation. One of the doctors took her under her wing and had her do rounds with her, work in ER for a couple of shifts etc. She spent time in the lab. She learned about XRays and spent a few hours there. Molly could discuss medical diagnosis and treatments knowledgeably with any of the nurses and doctors (I had been in nursing for 25 years). We were at the U for 22 of the last 26 months of Paul's life. Molly was 12-13. How many kids that age could/would do any of that?!Molly graduated at 16 and has 2 years of college under her belt at 18 years old. This is a difficult time to be starting out, but with her knowledge and her confidence, she can succeed. She is now learning about the herbs and may be interested in becoming a Naturopath, as I am.There's MY story!-- Jaynee

[Guest guest]

Kris Davidson wrote:

 

 

 

Jaynee-

Thanks for sharing your story. I

too am in Michigan. It has become a state more open and friendly to

homeschooling even though Michigan has a compulsory attendance law for

students between the ages of 6 and 16. Most county prosecutors will

not bother taking the time to prosecute parents for truant students.

There are many homeschoolers in Michigan that belong to homeschool

groups for social, physical education, field trips etc. Prior to being

the school principal in prison I was the school administrator in a

private Christian School in Michigan. I was in the process of

developing a program for homeschoolers to partner with the school

and receive a high school diploma. Students could take courses at the

school and home school. Many parents approached me with the idea so

their homeschool kids could participate in physical education, music,

foreign language, higher level math and science courses, etc. I

believe it would have been an awesome program if I had stayed at the

school but that was not meant to be.

Kris

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, Kris, for your story. What part of Michigan are you from? I was

in the thumb area (Metro Detroit through Port Huron).

 

-- Jaynee