Both my kids high school and middle schools were the subject of threats of shooting, and the terrifying couple of days where someone had made the threat, are not ones I want to live through again. Mine are in private now, but I can't say those threats had nothing to do with the decision. I have seen so many great homeschooling options, and even homeschooled football teams, that I really respect families choosing that option.
I can't imagine what kind of anxiety you felt. For all my talk of rational risk assessment, I'm sure I would have been terrified too. It's been great to see the growth of homeschool football teams and the like.
A comment that seems to occur to no-one is that homeschooling is simply more work. More than a few times my wife confessed to wishing the big yellow bus would get her kids too, not just the neighbor boy. Sure, there are certainly all the ones you mentioned. But don't forget this one.
We live in Connecticut. We had been educating our two young kiddos at home for a couple years prior to the Sandy Hook school nightmare. The kids and I were in the car coming home from a homeschool group playdate at Trinity College ice hockey facility when the radio station reported what had happened. I looked into the back seat at my daughter who is the same age as the children in the first grade classroom that were killed. I had to pull over to collect myself. I felt and feel so so grateful that we didn’t have to have that added fear in our lives. As I used to say… “ reason number 26 to homeschool”.
i am sure that i am up to over 100 reasons.
Now that my kids are in college, i think about all the perils that lie at their New England liberal arts colleges. I know that the odds of a school shooting at their schools are tiny compared to the constant ideological barrage that tries to undermine our libertarian leaning parenting; but the thought of a mass casualty at their schools vs the daily brainwashing, is by far more terrifying. I hope all their years of being free to think and explore life undeterred by school will protect them from the ideological blob at institutions of higher education. <3
Thanks so much for this, Kim. I feel it too. I bet I would have reacted the same way you did if I had school-age kids when Sandy Hook happened. And I bet your parenting has prepared your kids for the blob even better than you realize.
Both my kids high school and middle schools were the subject of threats of shooting, and the terrifying couple of days where someone had made the threat, are not ones I want to live through again. Mine are in private now, but I can't say those threats had nothing to do with the decision. I have seen so many great homeschooling options, and even homeschooled football teams, that I really respect families choosing that option.
I can't imagine what kind of anxiety you felt. For all my talk of rational risk assessment, I'm sure I would have been terrified too. It's been great to see the growth of homeschool football teams and the like.
A comment that seems to occur to no-one is that homeschooling is simply more work. More than a few times my wife confessed to wishing the big yellow bus would get her kids too, not just the neighbor boy. Sure, there are certainly all the ones you mentioned. But don't forget this one.
Yes, it can definitely be more work -- especially with a big family. I bet many homeschoolers have had the same thought your wife had.
We live in Connecticut. We had been educating our two young kiddos at home for a couple years prior to the Sandy Hook school nightmare. The kids and I were in the car coming home from a homeschool group playdate at Trinity College ice hockey facility when the radio station reported what had happened. I looked into the back seat at my daughter who is the same age as the children in the first grade classroom that were killed. I had to pull over to collect myself. I felt and feel so so grateful that we didn’t have to have that added fear in our lives. As I used to say… “ reason number 26 to homeschool”.
i am sure that i am up to over 100 reasons.
Now that my kids are in college, i think about all the perils that lie at their New England liberal arts colleges. I know that the odds of a school shooting at their schools are tiny compared to the constant ideological barrage that tries to undermine our libertarian leaning parenting; but the thought of a mass casualty at their schools vs the daily brainwashing, is by far more terrifying. I hope all their years of being free to think and explore life undeterred by school will protect them from the ideological blob at institutions of higher education. <3
Thanks so much for this, Kim. I feel it too. I bet I would have reacted the same way you did if I had school-age kids when Sandy Hook happened. And I bet your parenting has prepared your kids for the blob even better than you realize.