My husband and I were talking on the way home from the Expo on
Saturday afternoon and he mentioned that the Expo seems to be smaller
than when he went last year. He was right, it did seem that way. The
past few years, I believe the organization has been experimenting
with different venues to see if they can’t make the Expo more
intimate and friendly. I don’t know what the attendance or
membership numbers are, so I can’t say if that has changed or not.
But I do have a story to tell.
When my first son was born, my
step-daughter was starting 1st grade in the local public school near
her mother’s apartment. It was in a nice neighborhood and one of
the better schools in Orange County, better meaning more money was
spent there with fewer children attending public schools. I didn’t
like it. I didn’t like that she was already reading fluently way
above her peers and had to sit through phonics lessons. I didn’t
like that she was bound to a classroom from 6 to 7 hours a day. And I
didn’t like that she was forced to homework way beneath her level
of understanding for an hour each evening. I knew that the situation
would only get worse as she progressed through the grades. She was
put into GATE classes in second grade. I assumed this meant work at
her level, but really it translated to a greater amount of the same
work. Besides, some things she wasn’t more mature at, like
organizing her thoughts or class work. That was when I began looking
into alternatives for my own children. Private schools were too
expensive and the more I read the more I like the homeschooling idea.
I couldn’t change what my step-daughter was going through at
school. That is up to her mother. But I do support her and help her
through as best I can from where I am now.
Fast forward a few years. I find
California Homeschool Network and read up. It seems pretty straight
forward. My boys were not of school age just yet, so I had plenty of
time to research. I’m also lucky enough to have a husband who
completely supports me in my decisions about the children. We talk
about things all the time and consult each other, but his philosophy
is he takes care of the outside of the house, working, and the money.
I take care of the children, cleaning, feeding, and general indoor
stuff. Oh, and the garden, because he hates that. Anything to do with
power tools is out of my league, but I digress. It works out great.
Because he trusts my judgment and I trust his, we get along so well,
it is frightening to others.
A friend of mine, who was also looking
into homeschooling, emailed me about a Family Expo in Riverside in a
couple weeks, hosted by CHN. I signed up and since grandparents are
free, take my grandpa along with me. We were both amazed. He was
amazed at the number of people that were there. I was amazed about
the information being thrown at me. We were both amazed at the
friendliness and warmth of the people and the number of children with
their parents that we saw. Kids running from their parents, parents
either completely ignoring the behavior of their children (as if they
are not theirs) or yelling and threatening them to behave, are the
family scenarios I typically see. This was not the case here. And I
wanted to be like them. I was convinced. I went home and started
working on HOW we were going to homeschool.
Our styles and theories have changed
over the past three years. My husband and I went to the next years
Expo together and this year we brought along the kids. We liked
having the weekend to regroup ourselves for the coming year, so next
year I think we will go it alone. We do so many things together as a
family that sometimes it is nice to just be the two of us, as greedy
as that may sound.
And now I come to the point of my
entry! We were discussing CHN membership and what it means. I
wondered what the benefits of membership were and if those benefits
matched the cost. My husband was more on the side of supporting an
organization that helps so many people see that homeschooling is
feasible in California. I think he hit the nail on the head. No we
may not get a discount at the student store, or tickets to special
events, or a flashy magazine each month, but we do have the peace of
mind that there are people out there that are trying their best to
keep homeschooling simple and legal in California. The Expo is a
celebration of that. I would hope that my $30 combined with so many
others would help people with young children start homeschooling
before they find out that they cannot work within the public school
system. I hope that it helps parents that have children struggling in
public school realize that there are other options and you don’t
have to be rich or super smart to utilize them. I would love to see
CHN at more education related events, like OC Parenting and Book
Fairs. That would be my dream. To see the private homeschooling
option right up there with the super expensive private school and the
public charter that boasts of higher test scores if you use their
program.
I hope that someone that reads this in
California decides that it would be nice to send in their $30 to CHN
and become a member each year, not because they need to be a part of
a group or we need to band together. I want people to support a group
that reaches out to others so that they will know their options. I
want to support a group that helps others be better parents. I want
someone out there helping others to be as happy with homeschooling as
I am. And I want to support a group that watches our government like
a hawk to protect the private school laws as they stand and watch for
changes that may affect all parents of small children.
Ok, I’m stepping down now. I hope I
made someone think a little. California Homeschool Network is the
reason I homeschool today. If it weren’t for this organization, I
don’t know how else I would have gotten started. There are other
groups. But this one, I feel, serves the general public without
offending any of the other parts. (I don’t have the vocabulary for
this sentence, sorry.) This group is for ALL homeschoolers, not just
one kind or another. And I think it is for all parents that want what
is best for their children.
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