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This is the "short but sweet" perspective of one homeschooling mom who's "been there done that," and it is very worth hearing!
I began homeschooling my son this year, his senior year in high school, but my husband and I wanted to begin homeschooling when he was in second grade. We went to seminars, researched, talked to other homeschoolers, but our son was so resistant that we didn't. But it was the WRONG decision.
I know now that WE were the parents, we knew better, and he should never have been given the responsibility to make such a decision. He did not have the wisdom or experience to put it in perspective.
His main fear was of being "different" or being arrested for truancy (seriously). While he gained some benefits from public school, I believe that he would have gained much more from being at home.
While he is a very smart kid and had fun at school, his self-esteem has suffered, because he could not meet their demands.
He wanted time to study things in depth, and the public school system demands that everybody flow with THEIR tide. In fact, I have had to be so involved all along with making him stay on task, that I spend less time now with his schooling, and he is getting a better education, in addition to being so much calmer and happier.
Each person is different, but I would not let your child have the final word on homeschooling, if you really feel that homeschooling is best for him.
My son has always resisted change, of any kind, and yet he has always loved the change, once it is made. Kids like routines, and while we need to take their needs and wishes into consideration and involve them in the decisions, we have a responsibility as parents to make the final decisions.
If I had known how easy it was to take my kids out, I would have done it years ago, and all of our lives would have been so different.
The childhood years fly by so quickly, and the school system will never even notice our kids were there or when they leave. We, and our kids, however, will notice and remember the emptiness if their childhoods fly by, caught up in the "busyness" of school, instead of "at home" love and learning with their family.
When I asked Margaret for permission to use what she had written, she graciously responded: "Please feel free to use my post... I know that there are so many people out there in the same situation that we were, and I hope that my letter can help some of them to make the right decision.
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