I am a reader, an investigator, and a researcher, by nature. When I first started to consider homeschooling, my oldest was in first grade. He had done a year of Spanish Immersion kindergarten at the school where I used to teach (which I loved, but was simply too far away to keep up), and the following year was enrolled in our local public elementary school for first grade.

During that first grade year, I did everything I could to get us acclimated to the school. I served on the PTO board, hosted his class for a huge get-together at our house, served as a room parent for a holiday party, donated to the school and tried to stay “in the know.” Despite an excellent principal and myriad kind professionals working there, I was not pleased with my son’s experience academically. At January conferences, I was told that he had already mastered the first grade math curriculum. There was no plan for the remainder of the year. I was also puzzled by the quality of the “readers” being sent home with him, concerned about size and disciplinary issues in his class, and worried about a few safety features due to the structure of the building. I also was increasingly concerned with the use of technology in the school–namely, the Chromebooks. I couldn’t understand why six-year-olds would need Chromebooks! By mid-year, I had begun to seriously consider homeschooling, and began my research process.

My Background in Public Schooling

From January to May that year, I dove into a research hole. To be honest, even though I had been a teacher myself, I had never considered homeschooling. I can’t remember exactly why. I think it overwhelmed me. I’m sure I also had some stereotypes in my head from various unnuanced perspectives I had heard growing up.

I grew up in the public school system, attending our local public schools K-12. I then taught in two different public school systems, in two different states. I had fully planned to have my own children go through public schools! There are many positives, and I would still advocate for them in many ways. However–my son was going through this during the thick of the pandemic. We all know that Covid changed a lot of things in our world, including education!

My son was coming home, in first grade, commenting about things like “opening a new tab” on his Chromebook, or how his friends would watch YouTube videos during class time. How does he know about opening a new tab? I thought. He’s six years old! Sure enough, kids were accessing YouTube regularly during class time. Thanks to Covid grants, every student had a Chromebook. They were used each day in class, for various educational objectives–but invariably, kids would misuse them. (More posts on tech literacy for kids, here.)

The Main Reasons We Left the Public Schools

The use of technology + the depersonalized, inaccurate academic goals were my two main reasons to leave our public school. I am not completely against technology; I think it is an important tool, and kids need to be instructed in its uses. But not six year olds–not for any reason. The phrase “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” comes to mind.

Just because you can put on a YouTube video of someone reading a story, and some of the kids are more engaged, because it’s on a screen, doesn’t mean you should.

Just because you can have them practice their math facts on an app, that’s gamified, and they seem more interested and willing to do it since it’s on a screen, doesn’t mean you should.

Kids need to be read to by real people. Their teachers. Their parents. Even their own peers, in side-by-side reading. A person reading a story, over YouTube, cannot replace a teacher, reading in person. Period! Kids also need to be using pen and paper, especially when they’re as young as six. There is all sorts of research about the need for tactile objects, manipulatives, kinesthetic input, and understanding concrete concepts before abstract ones. A lot of this is erased with technology. Just because doing a monster game with your math facts on an iPad is fun, doesn’t mean it is best.

I know the opinions on tech in education are vast, and there is nuance, sometimes. So-I won’t go more into that today. The point is: the use of technology in our public school system was not a process I was comfortable supporting, maintaining, or participating in.

The second reason we left the public schools to pursue homeschooling was because of mismatched academic goals, and low standards. I can speak directly to this, since I was on the other side of things! I taught in two different public school systems, and as teachers, we have a lot on our plates. There are many, many balls to juggle without differentiating instruction. However, an attempt does need to be made, whether that be through leveled groupwork, challenge reading or worksheets, or even testing for pull-out classes that already exist. If there are students in your class who have mastered material, they need to be given something else. The goal of being at school is to learn, and you can’t learn much if you have already mastered the grade’s objectives.

Homeschooling is a True Privilege

I will also say, that being able to homeschool is a privilege. To be able to spend the time, money, energy, effort, (blood sweat and tears!) it takes to tailor-make an education that suits your kids’ individual needs is an enormous privilege and benefit. Not everyone has the opportunity, and I feel quite fortunate. The school system, whether public or private, simply does not have that same purpose or goal. It wouldn’t make sense if it did; it is an efficiency model. They are striving to be the most effective for the most students–essentially, the middle majority. Some schools have supplemental material for kids on the higher end, and most schools have supplemental material and services for kids on the lower end. Many efforts are made to serve all students, but it still cannot be as personalized as homeschooling. It makes complete sense, and I do not fault the system. It simply was not the best fit for us, after those first two years.

For the second half of my son’s first grade year, I spent my time doing a lot of research. I read a huge list of books, created a Google Survey for my friends, toured six co-ops in our area, and had lots of discussions with my husband about our next steps. I’ll be detailing that process in the next post!

How about you- did you make a switch from public or private school? What were your main reasons?

With love,

Cait