A stupid homeschooling article

I wrote this a long time ago and am just posting it now:

This article bothered me.

http://homeschooling.about.com/od/gettingstarted/a/homeschool4you.htm

The problem I have is that it acts like public school is the default, but you CHOOSE to home school (and at great personal sacrifice). So I made up my own. This is just supposed to be funny- please don't take it too seriously or get upset at me for criticizing schools. Here is my parody of the article at the above link:

Making the decision to send your kids to public school is usually very difficult and not one to be taken lightly. It is a personal decision that I can't make for you, but maybe I can help in the thought process. When making the decision, consider these things:

Time commitment - Public schooling tends to dictate your whole day. It is more than just pick-up and drop off times. Once you pick your kids up, get them a snack, help them with homework, and have dinner your whole day is pretty much shot. Making cinnamon rolls in your pajamas in the morning is limited to a few select days that the school allows you with your child. You cannot go to the zoo, museum, etc, at times when it is not crowded. School dictates wake-up times (no letting kids go by their own schedule) and bed times (so you can get up early for school). And it's not just a commitment of your time. A child who goes to public school from kindergarten through twelfth grade will spend roughly 14,000 hours of his or her childhood in school, not even counting transportation to and from school or any after-school activities. This is a big commitment, and up to you as a parent to decide if this is time well-spent.

Personal sacrifice - The public school mom gets little time with her kids. You don't get to watch them figure out how to do fractions or learn to read for the first time. You don't get the joy of reading a hundred pages of a book together, snuggled on the couch on a rainy afternoon.

Financial strain - Public school is supposed to be free, however a parent will usually need to be around for random days off school and summers, in addition to snow days, sick days, etc. If you are used to two incomes, this may be difficult. Or there is after school care, which is expensive. Also there are camps, sport participation, supplies, and science projects that all cost money, yet you do not get to dictate how that money is spent, so you may not feel that the use of that money is of particular benefit to your child. Additionally, kids at public school may feel pressure to wear certain brands of clothing that are quite expensive. Of course you can always refuse to buy them, but this may cause tension in your relationship with your child or in their relationships with their classmates.

Socialization - You will no longer have any choice about who your children socialize with. They will come home with bad words, bad jokes, inappropriate stories, and knowing the plot of TV shows you don't let them watch (and don't imagine why any parent would). Most of their socialization time will occur largely unsupervised, as one teacher cannot supervise 30 kids at recess very well. So if a child is having trouble sharing or is bullying another, there will not be an adult readily available to help. With all that time away from home, sibling relationships and relationships with parents may suffer. Much of the time your children spend in school they will not be socializing at all, but sitting in class and, if they are allowed to talk at all, they must only say certain things about certain subjects.

Household organization - Kids who go to public school are not as respectful to their parents and may be very resistant to chores. Also you won't be able to make cleaning up as much of a family project, and won't get as much of a chance to teach your kids how to clean and organize.

Both parents in agreement - It is important that both parents agree to send kids to school. It is very difficult if one parent is against it and constantly worried about what the child is learning at school, both as a part of the curriculum and the extraneous lessons in how to treat people.

Is your child willing? - A willing student is always helpful. Ultimately, the decision is the parents to make, but if your child is dead against going to school, you might have a hard time of it.

One year at a time - It isn't a lifetime commitment - most families take one year at a time.

Intimidated by helping kids with homework? Since you didn't pick the curriculum, you may not know much about, say, the life cycle of the fruit fly. The curriculum is completely out of your hands, so you get no say in what your kids learn. Be sure to talk to the teacher if you don't like what your kids are learning, though it may be futile as curriculum requirements are generally not made on a local level.

Are you willing to make the personal and family sacrifices that public schooling requires? If so, give it a year and see how it goes.