Homeschool Encouragement

I have been contemplating homeschooling for over a year now, I have another 5+ years though until my first child is school age. I do encounter many moms looking for encouragement in their homeschooling endeavor, including this concerned mom from Dallas in the Mamapedia community.

I'll start with the negative and end with the positive. Here are some reminders of just how broken the public school system is, in case anyone forgot (check the links for full stories):

• Four Georgia schools investigated for possible cheating
• 700 NYC teachers paid to do nothing
• Teacher pleads guilty to charges of having sex with student
• National arts test scores offer clouded picture
• Retired teacher reveals he was illiterate until age 48
• Violence in Public Schools
• U.S. slipping in education rankings
• Bullying rampant in U.S. middle schools
• Bullied to death
  
• A 16 year old's account of her public school years
  
• It is unfortunate this list can go on endlessly...

That is not to say that there are no odd stories about homeschool. You are a lot less likely though to find homeschool kids shooting each other. You might come across a couple of cases of child abuse where hopefully justice will prevail. The rest will be stories of successful entrepreneurs, spelling bee champions, and close relationships between children and their parents. Of course homeschooling might not be right for everyone, but I believe it is worth it if you feel capable and even if you would have to review your budget and do some major cuts on unnecessary spending when you forgo your full time job and become a full time mom. I am hoping to continue working from home when we embark on our homeschooling voyage, that is also a great option.

Now on a positive note, whenever you feel discouraged, ready to give up on homeschooling, or facing opposition from family, friends, and officials - come back to this list of reasons why homeschooling is so worth it:

1. To nurture, train, and educate our children
2. To center our lives around family rather than school
3. The role models they follow will be their parents not their age-appropriate peers (the jails are full of those who listen to their peer group and not their parents)
4. Children grow up so fast, I don’t want to miss a moment
5. We can vacation and travel on the off season
6. We can take field trips on the spur of the moment and lots of them
7. Instead of learning to interact with 20 other same age children they will learn how to interact with children and adults of all ages
8. No need for "socialization" as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary -- a verb meaning, "To place under government or group ownership or control."
9. Pupils taught individually achieve 30% higher on standardized tests than pupils taught in a standard class of 25 students (more statistics)
10. Encourages a lifelong love of learning
11. Adds to the richness of our culture by promoting diversity in educational choice
12. Every child is unique and learns in different ways and we can design our curriculum to each child's individual learning style
13. We know EXACTLY what our child is taught
14. I am re-educated
15. We can accomplish more in less time
16. Education still takes place on snow and sick days
17. In this computer age resources for homeschoolers are abundant
18. To foster emotional security
19. No cliques
20. To encourage creativity
21. To develop independent learners
22. I love being with my child(ren)!
23. It is the responsibility of the parent to raise children, not the government
24. Academics will not be replaced with "socialization" and sex education
25. The student/teacher ratio is unbeatable
26. Fewer back injuries, no heavy backpacks to lug
27. No school shootings
28. You can sleep in (School kids typically get less sleep than the recommended amount for healthy development)
29. Learning can combine lessons such as art and history, math and science
30. You can always read more reasons that I will add with time by coming back to this blog post!

Have fun homeschooling and remember that only you, the parent, love and know your children best in this world, take good care of them!

Photo courtesy: sxu

Plastic: the good, the bad, and the ugly

The words of the catchy 90s song don't really apply these days, "life in plastic, it's fantastic!". Do you remember that, the Barbie girl song? Well, lately we've been learning all too well that life with plastic is not so fantastic, and when someone wonders "Good plastic?...Bad Plastic?" on Mamapedia I want to give my honest opinion. At the same time I receive my EWG newsletter in my inbox today about the plot of large corporations to deceive consumers on the BPA issue. So I get all fired up, but no need really - there will always be people who are greedy for money and don't care about the consumer, case closed.

So what are we to do now? Should we vote with our wallet and stop buying all BPA lined cans and all plastic? Raid those cupboards and toss everything we've spent money on because someone finally told us it's not good for our health? What replaces BPA in plastic that is BPA free? Besides convenience for consumer and money savings for the manufacturer, is there any benefit to plastic? I think the issue is much much larger than 'good and bad plastic'. Of course I am referring to plastic that comes in contact with all food and beverages. I am not going to demand to abolish all things plastic - I think that would be silly! So what do you think about the questions I outlined? Post your comments!

Here is what I think. First let's get the BPA thing straight. There is no question BPA is toxic, period. Second, it is now present in everything from breast milk and cord blood to rivers, house dust, and even air. Third, the FDA, time and time again, does not care about the consumer and even has the guts to question and contemplate whether they should ban it! I don't get it, do these people working at FDA not realize that they and their families are just as affected by this as everyone else? What, do they have a 'backup planet' they are planning to migrate to once they bring Earth and its inhabitants to complete destruction? Excuse my sarcasm.

What goes through the minds of people who attended the Joint Trade Association meeting that took place on May 28, 2009? Are they seriously going to get a "pregnant young mother who would be willing to speak around the country about the benefits of BPA"? Is this a joke? Unfortunately not, they'll do anything in the name of the $6 billion dollar BPA industry. Where are they going to find this young mother? It is too bad there are so many clueless mothers out there, the corporations will probably take advantage and pay well to some poor mom who will have no idea what she is advertising. Then a few million other moms will actually believe it, I will not be one of them. The thing is, they just will not be able to find a scientific spokesperson to shed any positive light on BPA, because there isn't any! This is very reminiscent of the tobacco industry that started targeting women (Virginia Slims) when their wallet was hit by the FTC and various health groups in the 60s. Some excerpts from the meeting minutes that might convince you this is outrageous:

Attendees believe a balance of legislative and grassroots outreach (to young mothers ages 21-35 and students) is imperative to the stability of their industry.

Attendees suggested using fear tactics (e.g. "Do you want to have access to baby food anymore?") as well as giving control back to consumers (e.g. you have a choice between the more expensive product that is frozen or fresh or foods packaged in cans) as ways to dissuade people from choosing BPA-free packaging.

Focusing on the impact of BPA bans on minorities (Hispanic and African American) and poor is also important.

So what will I do about this? I'll just blog and rant... Then I'll try to continue with the phasing out of plastic used with anything edible in our household. I'll thank EWG for being one of the few that cares about our health and environment. I'll think about how this blog post is like a drop in the bucket, but a few moms will read it. Hopefully someone will listen.

So what other chemicals are present in plastic that we don't know about? I can only guess. On a positive note, there are so many other much less toxic materials that we can use for convenience. I'll stick with my stainless steel, glass, cast iron...

Don't ruin my day and tell me there is something wrong with those materials too!