HOME EDUCATION MAGAZINE: Confessions of a (Spasmodic) Homeschooling Mom - Laurisa White Reyes


/Home Schooling News Articles/ - TONASKAT, WA, January 31, 2008 - http://www.homeedmag.com - In the January - February 2008 Home Education Magazine Laurisa White Reyes describes how she stopped thinking of (and using) the public schools as a safety net for homeschooling, much to her own relief and that of her kids in "Confessions of a (Spasmodic) Homeschooling Mom."

She writes:
Okay, I know what you're thinking: not another "why-I-homeschool" story! Maybe you'll breathe a sigh of relief when I tell you this story is not your run-of-the-mill homeschool story. Most of the homeschool moms I've met are what I'd call all-the-way homeschoolers. Either they've been teaching their children at home from day one without ever stepping foot in a public school--or their children started off in public school and somewhere along the line they became disillusioned by "the system" and pulled them out.

Only on occasion have I met other moms like me who claim to be homeschoolers, but who are in fact straddling the educational fence. That is to say, sometimes our children are in and sometimes they're out. These moms, myself included (and I use moms because isn't it usually we women who make these kind of decisions?), are well-intentioned and want what is best for their children and families. Overall, they are unhappy with the public school system and entertain grand notions of homeschooling their four, six or eight children all the way to college, with every last one of them graduating from Harvard Suma Cum Laude and being hailed as the most brilliant of humans--all because they were homeschooled.

Unfortunately, reality strikes the best of us at the most inopportune times. Just when our dreams are the most glorious, real life shatters them. Let's face it, it's not always the Garden of Eden having a bunch of kids running around all the time bickering, whining, smearing their dirty sneakers on the carpet and emptying the fridge. The constant tumult and chaos homeschooling brings is more than many moms can handle for long without suffering a complete spiritual and intellectual breakdown.

I've heard my share of "Oh, I could never homeschool my kids" comments over the years from public school (PS) moms who count the days until their youngest kids are finally in school so they can enjoy a few hours of uninterrupted peace and quiet. These PS moms are unapologetic in their "me, me, me" attitudes. And why shouldn't they be? Their homes are cleaner, their temperaments are less frantic, and they have seemingly endless hours in which to nap, read or watch Oprah--without anyone else demanding that they get up and make a peanut butter sandwich right now or they're just gonna die!

When surrounded by such women, what is one insignificant homeschool mom to do? Very often that homeschool mom starts longing for the very pleasures in life she's been convinced she's missing. She gets a little testy with her precocious children, and starts to resent being stuck at home all day while her husband is off at work enjoying whatever sanity the business world has to offer. The more she notices the chaos in her life, the more she pines for the order and structure public school offers: up at 7:00, breakfast at 7:30, kids out the door from 8:00 to 3:00, homework, dinner and bed. Hmmm. That doesn't sound half so bad, does it?

I didn't think so either. I was wrong.

To read the rest of the story, visit Home Education Magazine here: http://homeedmag.com/HEM/251/confessions.html

About Home Education Magazine

Home Education Magazine is owned and published by founders Mark and Helen Hegener and their third-generation homeschooling family. They understand homeschooling because they have always been homeschoolers. In 1983 the Hegeners began publishing Home Education Magazine for homeschooling families across the country, and now, over twenty-five years later, HEM is respected as the premier magazine in the field, described as "informative and commonsense" by Library Journal's Magazines for Libraries and "highly recommended" by EBSCO's Librarian's Handbook. Winner: Forbes Awards, Parents' Choice Recommended Awards, and many others.

Home Education Magazine
Stacy: info@homeedmag.com
Mary: publicrelations@homeedmag.com
PO Box 1083, Tonasket, WA 98855
(509) 486-1351
1-800-236-3278

Press Release Contact Information:

Mary Nix
Home Education Magazine
Public relations liaison
PO Box 1083
Tonaskat, WA
USA 98855
Website: Visit Our Website