I May Have an Answer to my Homeschool Woes

I know, as a long-time homeschooler of about 18 years and possibly one who could be considered one of the early pioneers, I should be an enthusiastic proponent of the joys of homeschooling. However, I would rather stick pins in my eyes than teach small children to read or learn their math facts. The delight of hearing a child lisp their first read words are now less from the joy over seeing them accomplish this first important step, as it is from thinking the end is now in sight! The first couple of times I did this, it was interesting and gratifying to do, but I am not a natural teacher of elementary school children. Give me a topic that I love and an interested audience teen and older, and I can perform like a trained seal. But little kids? I love the darlings, but it makes my eyes glaze rapidly when they are repeating the five times table for the three zillioneth time.

Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy my kids and don't mind having them around all day. (Though I admit to fantasizing about having the house stay clean for several hours while they are away at school rather than the constant uproar that surrounds us.) I don't have them in the public school system because it is a den of iniquity designed to turn out drones and not innovative thinkers and entrepreneurs. I doubt I will produce any Einsteins in my home, but on the other hand, they are already giving evidence of knowing how to work responsibly and how to earn money at an early age. I have given them every encouragement to be self-motivated learners, and at least one of them, is showing signs of following this path now. He grumbles about some of the work assigned to him, but give him a topic he is really interested in learning, like how to buy a reliable used car at a good price, he can run circles around me with his research. Teaching them how to research and learn for themselves, in my opinion, is better than stuffing their heads with algebraic facts they will never use.

Still, it nags at me that there are some things that may not be getting covered that should be.

The other day I received a flyer in the mail from a Christian Home- eSchool for K - 12 here in our fair province. It utilizes the Alpha Omega curriculum and only costs $200 per child for the year. This program is designed for as much or as little parental involvement as is wanted by the parent, but the kids must turn in their work daily to a teacher via the internet. The teacher is available to teach and tutor as needed and provides grades as well. Even better is the fact that at the end of Grade 12 they will have a BC Dogwood highschool certificate.

I have use Alpha Omega stuff in the past for isolated subjects and the curriculum is good. I love the idea of having someone else do all the correcting and instructing for me! One of my kids biggest complaints is the fact that I don't multi-task well like other moms. I tend to center in on something that is occupying my attention to the exclusion of bombs going off under me. (When I am on the computer, they now resort to bellowing "MOM!!!" at the top of their voices in the microphone in order to get my attention. This tends to send me skyward like a rocketing pheasant to their great amusment.) This has meant a backlog of work to correct and oversee because this has to be wedged in between cooking, cleaning, laundry and everything else. I have often said that if I ever made enough money, the first thing I would do would be to hire a tutor. Well somehow or other, I am going to find the chunk of change I need to get this online tutoring. I'll still be teaching the littles the basics, but those who are in grade four and up, are candidates for this program.

I could kiss whoever dreamed this up.