Sunday, January 29, 2012

POSITIVES OF GOVERNMENT HIGH SCHOOL #1

I am going to attempt to make a list of the positives I have gotten from the past two and a half years of my daughter being in government high school.  My plan at this point is to try and get to 10 posts. I only have three reasons in my head at this point so don't hold me to that.

My number one reason is the biggest positive for me.  Drum roll please... any lingering doubts about going against the status quo and pulling my kids out of school six years ago are gone, completely gone.  I started with many doubts: would they learn, would they hate me, would they hate each other, what if they lost all their friends, how do I do this...  These worries have come and gone over the years.  When they seemed to start coming at once or I started panicking too much I would call another homeschooling mom or read a book on education.  This always helped, but nothing ever got rid of them permanently, there always seemed to be some looming doubt stirring in the back of my mind.  No more they are all gone, gone, gone!
I have seen what all those years of government schooling would have done to them.  Walk into a high school, or just wait outside and watch them exit.  How many seem apathetic to everything around them? Listen to a group of them talk about school do you hear a lot of positive thoughts?  Go into a fast food restaurant where many are working, can they think, count back change, understand how to converse with a customer?  I have realized that many teens seem to have no idea of their own thoughts and opinions, they want someone to tell them.
No, this is not all teens who have been through government education their whole lives (more on that in another post).  It is definitely the majority, and the ones who aren't like this have learned to play the system without it affecting them as much.  No my kids aren't perfect, neither are their parents.  I don't hold them up as examples of kids with no problems, or who are all going to be doctors or lawyers or whatever you would describe as the top rung of success.  But, they all know themselves, what their interests are, how to live in a positive way in this world, and most importantly they know they can learn whatever they want in any way they choose.