I had a wake-up moment today. How I educate today might impact how parents in the future are allowed to educate their kids. I spend too much time just having fun with the kidlets and too little time being the teacher.
On my homeschool group email list there has been some discussion about logging hours. I have to admit that I am really lacking in several areas surrounding this issue.
The first is that I suck at documenting. No way around it, I just plain don't keep written records as diligently I should.
The second is that I am a pushover and pretty darn lazy (wait, that's two, isn't it?) when it comes to school.
The third is that I have a tendency to start great projects and then let them fizzle out (wait, that's laziness, maybe it goes with the second point).
I wasn't paying very close of attention to the discussion until a mom whom I respect a great deal, Stephanie Herrick, posted a reminder for us all. I want to share a quote from her eloquent and thought-provoking email. "To the degree we fail to police ourselves, we open the door to be policed by others. "
Just because we, personally, are not at great risk of being accused of educational neglect should not mean that I can be lax about holding our family to the highest level of accountability. Everyone I communicate with about what our homeschool looks like will forge an opinion about what ALL homeschools are like. Do I want the image they get from me to be the image they pass on to others? The law in Missouri is fantastic and allows for a great variation in teaching styles and emphases and keeping it that way is of paramount importance.
So, just because Levi can race through his handwriting lesson doesn't mean that I should let him do it every day. And next time Paige wants to count her paper craft making as art I should remind her that a hobby doesn't get to count everyday, somethings are for fun, not school.
So, is my homeschool above reproach? I need to make sure I like the answer to that question.
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