Four More Reasons

In light of some recent events, and to add to my already large list, herein lies four more reasons why I choose to homeschool:

Reason #1. I am convinced that if my son was in school, his teachers would want to put him on Ritalin. I have discovered that he is almost completely unable to sit still while doing his work; instead standing ON his chair, standing BESIDE his chair, KNEELING on his chair, eventually ending up on the floor to dance a few little "jigs". This cycle is repeated continually throughout his school work. I in no way believe he has ADHD, he is just a normally active little boy. Neither do I see a reason to suppress his motion since it does not disturb anyone else. He is suppressed in church and at other occasions where his activity will disturb someone, so if he chooses to stand on his head to complete his school - as long as he gets it done - it's fine by me.

Reasons #2 & 3. In recent weeks while driving the school bus, some new revelations have come to light. First, in spite of the fact that I love the darling little kids from the refugee camp that I spoke of in a recent post, they reaffirm that there is no language barrier too big to learn how to SWEAR. Yup. The worst four-letter word manages to creep its way into their weak English vocabulary. Which goes to show what other kids are teaching them at school, and reinforces why I do not want my kids in a regular classroom at public school.

Secondly, I have been shocked to observe an enormous lack of supervision by the teaching staff of my school. Since I have to make two small loops on my route, taking some kids home in one loop and then returning to the school for the second set of kids, there are anywhere from 30 to 60 kids waiting for my return, which is a 10-15 minute wait. There have been at least a half dozen times when these kids are left unsupervised and running wild. One time when I pulled up I noticed a lady supervising the kids that I had never met before, only to find out that she was a "concerned citizen", who happened to be driving by the school and almost hit a kindergartner who was OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. She very kindly took it upon herself to supervise these kids while waiting for my return.

On one other occasion, Dave and I were picnicing with our kids during a school day in late September at a park close to a school. Since we were there at lunch time, we observed the kids coming out after their own lunch to play for the remainder of their break. There were two teachers supervising that I noticed, but I was amazed at how many kids were hiding in places that the teachers couldn't see and realized how easy it would be the kids to escape the bell when it rang. It would be impossible for the teachers to know exactly how many kids were on their watch, since they were from all grades and the number would vary day to day.

I would have no problem with Hannah in the supervisory care of a teacher in these instances because I trust her and she is cautious. But there is no way in this lifetime I could trust Seth. I could easily see him being the boy in the middle of the street and him hiding on the teacher thinking it was funny.

Reason #4. This is the biggest reason of all. I recently learned of a situation (from a very reliable source) where a mom dropped her 9-year-old daughter off at school and realized she forgot her lunch. She told her daughter that she would return later with her lunch. However, the mom was late in dropping off her lunch. As a result, a teacher called in social services (without permission/knowledge of a parent), a social worker questioned the girl (without permission/knowledge of a parent), asked questions that eventually led to the inevitable, "do you ever get a spanking?" (which she does). As a result, the parents are being subjected to home assessments and have been told that if they fail they are at risk of losing not just their 9-year-old daughter, but their BABY BOY!

ALL THIS BECAUSE A MOM DID NOT MAKE IT BACK TO THE SCHOOL IN TIME WITH HER DAUGHTER'S LUNCH! ALL BECAUSE OF AN OVER-ZEALOUS TEACHER!

I don't know about anyone else, but this absolutely enrages me. Ironically, I drive the school bus to inner city schools who PROVIDE LUNCH FOR THE CHILDREN BECAUSE THE PARENTS ARE INCAPABLE OF PROVIDING FOOD FOR THEIR CHILDREN.........!!!!! I have also listened to countless stories - by the children I drive - of arguments and physical abuse, as well as see their dilapidated homes. And these children continue to be allowed to live with their parents.

I realize I don't know everything about the above story, but I do not believe a teacher should have the right to call in a social worker to question a child without authority from a parent. If a child looks abused or neglected, then call the police. But this child was not. This child has two parents who love her, and whose mom was.......a little late. That's it.

I'm sure in a little while I'll have four more reasons why I homeschool. At least.