Times are changing and so are thoughts of doing things differently. This past Thanksgiving we all became ill. First a couple of the kids and me had gotten sick then by the time Christmas hit almost the entire family in my house had gotten sick. While we were home resting and relaxing I remembered back to when the kids were doing their homework from home at the beginning of the pandemic.
I know my littlest girl enjoys life much more growing and learning at her own pace. Also, she's a lot calmer and enjoys having more time to go outside. She walks her animals and takes hikes with her dog, Sadie. The kids also enjoy riding their horses and practicing barrels and roping without feeling the rush of having to fit everything in during the evenings after school.
Traditional school does make things easy as far as knowing the kids are being taught the approved curriculum, but from what I've read about home schooling your children's education doesn't have to follow the approved curriculum that there is flexibility and for ranch kids you can incorporate ranch life skills into their lessons. When I think about it learning techniques and how I absorbed the most information it was when I was able to have the freedom to do so. I learn more by doing hands on activities.
Home schooling is becoming even more popular and more of the norm for families these days. There are so many different home school programs. I don't even know where to begin. I just know that living a distance out of town and having all the activities we have going on it seems like I should at least look into it more. It might make life easier and less stressful.
I did read a few articles about colleges having issues with accepting home school education during admissions. To me that sounds pretty scary, but from what I read the issues were resolved. My daughter that's now college is not excited about the idea of the younger kids being home schooled. For whatever reason she says home schooled children don't receive the same education that a public school teaches.
So what's best for the family? I'm not sure it really depends on the kids, how they learn, how the family members can help each other and how what effects it will have on everyone. I don't have the answers to those questions. I wish I had a crystal ball to see what the end result would be either way.
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