I am a homeschooling mother of two daughters with a degree in Elementary Education, residing in West Virginia.

Having attained my degree several years prior to having children, I was able to spend enough time within the public school system to realize that I desired something a little more “whole” some for my kids. 

Initially, my kids did go to public school, but I knew it was going to be hard for me when my 4 ½ yr. old came home from kindergarten within the first week and asked me, “Mommy, why do I have to walk down the hallway with my finger over my lips…..I’m not talking, I didn’t do anything wrong?”  You were absolutely correct my child.  But how do you explain to a 4 yr. old that her natural exuberance and curiosity was about to undergo a big transformation?  That from now on she would have to seek permission for everything she wanted to do – that she would be sent messages that she could no longer be trusted to be in charge of herself.  That she would be told what to do, when to do it, exactly how to do it and graded on how well she performed according to somebody else’s rules.

Thinking that the family couldn’t live without my part-time salary, I held my breath and allowed her to continue public schooling.  She learned to play the game well and was a real pleaser; straight A’s, popular with teachers and kids alike.  I never refrained from discussing with her, however, school rules and expectations that didn’t make sense or seemed unfair.  After all, I wasn’t about to also subjugate my behavior to their policies and pretend that it was all okay.  If it’s not fair, if it doesn’t make sense, if it’s boring……I’ll agree!  It didn’t take her long to figure out that homeschooling was an option that I held in the back of my mind.  She mentioned it every few months, but since she seemed to be doing fine……ego intact, still bright and inquisitive, I kept working.  It wasn’t until 5^th grade that her occasional requests to homeschool became full out, nearly daily begging!  The reason for her unease was due to the fact that, being gifted, she was usually done with her work early.  She loved to write so when she completed her assignments, she would take out a journal and quietly fill her time.  For some reason, this upset her teacher, who insisted that she being doing regular, classroom type work.  She would nag my daughter about getting more work (“busy” work, in my estimation) from her gifted teacher, so that she wasn’t “wasting” her time writing stories.  I wasn’t about to let my talented young writer feel that she had to make excuses for doing something she loved and that certainly had educational merit.  So we took the leap.  (and she joyfully spent hours a day writing!)

I homeschooled her throughout her middle school years and I am currently still homeschooling her younger sister.

I had an additional important experience that helped to form my understanding of education and what it means to be a contributing member of society.

For 3 years I was a part-time Adult Basic Education instructor, teaching illiterate and semi-literate adults how to read.  We met a total of 9 hours a week; 3 days a week.

While some of my students were by definition “developmentally disabled” others were not and were of normal IQ.   Most of them, however, were convinced of their own inability to learn.  For most, it had been drilled into their head since they were little that they were “slow” or “stupid”.  Talk about baggage!  They tried….but generally having low frustration thresholds, they often gave up after a few weeks or months.  They had spent a lifetime succeeding at very little; what, they must have thought, made them think that it was going to be any different this time?    

Early in this experience, I attended a Literacy Volunteers annual picnic.  As was often done, one or two of their current students would discuss their experience and/or proudly show off their new reading skills.  One such gentleman, perhaps 60 years old, proudly read us “Green Eggs & Ham”.  He then went on to talk about how proud he was to have worked for the local utility board for the past 15 years, sweeping streets and cleaning gutters.  With his new reading skills, he hoped to get his driver’s license and be able to drive one of the board’s trucks.  Despite falling under the “developmentally disabled” category……he was a happy, proud, contributing member of society.  (and no doubt a hard-worker and loyal employee)  He, certainly, was one of the lucky ones.

Most of my students were not and lived at the mercy of society’s safety nets. (read: “government assistance/training”)  They had never been deemed worthy or capable of learning anything of value within the public education system.  Yes they were learning dis-abled.  Dis-abled from learning by a system that was not set up to meet any of their needs.  Hence, through no fault of their own, they weren’t helping society meet any of its needs.

My frustration grew exponentially as our State Department of Education began to get further and further involved in “Curriculum Standards & Objectives” for adult education.  To what ends was it important for an adult to learn to parse a sentence….to understand the intricacies of the English language?  These people needed employable skills and in order to do so, they needed to learn to read, period.  Obtaining a GED was not a viable consideration.  Once again, the system was setting them up for failure. 

I began to fantasize about a world in which their abilities were en-abled.  A world where as youngsters, their different learning styles were recognized and addressed; where they were never told they were dumb or slow; a world that wouldn’t continually try to create apple pies out of oranges; a world where as young adults (and perhaps never becoming strong readers) they would be exposed to job skills that they could use and could feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in; and a society that would honor all their contributions.  If they didn’t acquire a high school diploma, that would be okay…..because we still need their contributions and they still deserve to feel worthy.  Like the lucky gentleman above.

These are the reasons I have created this website.  To, perhaps, open a window, letting a little light shine in on the idea of honoring one another and especially our children.