RE-Post-Why I am homeschooling Providence

Why I am homeschooling Providence

1. She is too well behaved when she doesn't want to work.
I mean, she's so quiet you don't even know where she is. When we tell her she needs to do the dishes she disappears. An hour later, the dishes are still there. Providence has been quietly occupying herself doing something under her bed. Seriously. In a class of 21 other kids, she won't be noticed. That is until she has a pile of work she hasn't completed.

2. She doesn't persist at tasks she struggles with.

Okay, most people don't. I would say she struggles more than most. She doesn't like to fail. Okay, no one likes to do that either. Her solution is to just not try in the first place. You can't fail if you don't try anyway. Sadly, in school this is generally labeled as laziness. I know there are amazing teachers out there who don't see it as such, but in my time working in this district those are the minority.

3. She has a speech delay

This has caused a couple of issues that will prevent her from being successful in public school. First, she doesn't talk very much to grown ups unless she feels comfortable with them. That means she wouldn't say much to her teacher until October. Secondly, people make assumptions about what she is capable of doing based on her articulation difficulties. When they hear her they tend to think she is younger and not ready to do what she is perfectly capable of doing. Thirdly, I am terrified of kids teasing her. The vast majority of kids are kind, but there are a few bad apples in every bunch. I had one in particular in Sunday School that was the epitome of childhood meanness. Watching that one little girl manipulate and tease the rest of the class just one day a week opened my eyes to what one bad apple can do. Providence will shut down and stop doing anything if kids start teasing her.

4. She has learned a valuable lesson from having a speech delay.

She knows people don't always think she is capable of doing things, so she doesn't. Her aide last year (who was her PK3 teacher the year before) knew Providence well. Providence didn't always do a whole lot in class, especially in the beginning. Thankfully, Mrs. Walker was smart to Providence's ways and sat with her and made sure she got stuff done. One-on-one Providence does beautifully. In a class of 22, she knows she can sit quietly and no one will notice that she is doing whatever she wants.

5. She doesn't care.

Providence doesn't work for rewards or verbal praise. I can't figure out (and neither have her teachers) what she will work for. She does it when and if she wants. Looking through her assessments, this is painfully obvious. She counted further in January's assessment than in May's assessment. She didn't label all of her letters in May, even though she did it at home for me. Her Kindergarten teacher just wouldn't have the time to test her multiple times, so that she can catch Providence on a day she wants to preform to her potential.

6. She will show off her full potential when she is interested.

I don't expect a teacher to cater only to my daughter. That's just silly. I can cater to her interests and sneak phonics in when she isn't thinking about it.

7. One bad year will set the stage for the rest of her educational career.

I think public school is a great thing (minus the downward spiral that high stakes testing and likelihood of performance based pay is causing, but that's another post). I will also be the first to say that public school isn't the best fit for everyone. In the end, no matter what type of school children are in, parents are the ones who are responsible for the education of their children. I want her to have a good year and I don't think that will happen in public school.