Home Schooling

My daughter has made the decision to home school her children. Public education is a mess today and even though home schooling is not for everyone, I believe that for some families it can make sense. My daughter taught math before leaving the profession to start her family. Her husband and his siblings were home schooled until he won a scholarship to college. I guess, in their case, they certainly know what they are doing.

Working at the Alamo, I see bus load after bus load of school kids coming on field trips. Too many of these public school children are loud and disrespectful in the Alamo Shrine and Long Barrack Museum. Their teachers and chaperones do little to control them or enforce the rules that are posted in the buildings and on the grounds. This spring has been the worst on record.

By contrast the home school students that come to the Alamo are normally very polite and quite interested in the history that surrounds them. Their teacher/parents take an active role during their visit to this historic shrine. They often ask some of the most thoughtful questions. It is a pleasure to have them. They also have the luxury of seeing the Alamo in small groups instead of noisy mobs where their teachers often have to scream and yell to get their attention.

Often the public school kids create havoc when they invade the Alamo Gift Shop in large numbers. The children remove items from the shelves and leave them all over the store. Some kids like to tear open the packaging so they can play with the toy inside, which they never buy, of course. When they do make their way to the register with their “treasures,” the frustrated cashier often receives a fist full of coins and bills with the expectation that the clerk is to count it out for them and tell them if they have enough. When they do not have enough money, they stand there dumfounded, expecting the clerk to just give it to them or make up the difference from their own pocket. For students to be this ignorant of money and the value of things is inexcusable in my book.

Today our public schools are missing the mark. So much pressure is put on the children to pass multiple choice, standardized tests, but they can’t make change in a store. Lessons on manners and appropriate behavior take a back seat to reading and science. Many school districts have had to cut back on music and physical education programs. Lunch programs consist of salty, high sugar and high fat junk foods and drinks. And we wonder why our kids are getting fat, behave poorly and cannot handle a simple monetary transaction?

I suppose it is easy to place all the blame on the teachers, but in all fairness teachers have their hands full with overcrowded classrooms and fewer resources thanks to budget cutbacks. With ridged curriculum guidelines, they have less time and flexibility to practice their profession. Parents have to share a big part of the blame as well. If the child is not taught the value of money, the joy of learning and proper behavior by their parents in their own homes, then why would the teachers be the ones expected to turn things around at school?

I wish my daughter and son-in-law luck with their grand adventure. Emma and Ashlyn are very fortunate indeed.

Food for THOUGHT…