Yesterday I was at the bookmobile with my son and this old lady comes in and looks at us with a disgusted look.

Maybe she's just having a bad day. I thought to myself. Then I started asking the librarian some questions about the public school...such as Why do they have so many early release days? The little old lady walked up and said,

"You would know if you sent your child to school!" She said it with a horrible tone. I was...aghast...where in the world did that come from?

"Oh, I home school my son." I said politely. "We have been home schooling for three years now." The old lady just snarled.

"You are not going to help him by keeping him home. What will he learn?" She said nastily. Man, I was like...what is wrong with this old lady?!

"Oh we learn plenty!" We then discussed for about 10 minutes about our program and so on. The little old lady still berated me for not sending him to a public school. Many times she asked me,

"Oh, so the public schools aren't good enough for you and your son, eh?"

'To be honest, Mrs. Whatever her name was, no it isn't. At least not the ones here. He went to public school for kindergarten and was smarter than the teacher! He was extremely bored and the other kids would bother him. When he asked them to stop bothering him, he got in trouble and sent to the principle's office. Later they wanted to put him in a 'special program'- which we later found out was for the slower kids and would only frustrate him further. My son likes to think outside the box, he likes to learn, in fact he loves it! If he learned anything in Kindergarten it was only because of what I was teaching him at home. My son is only 8 (9 in a week), and he's already tested at advanced 6th grade. During the past three years of home schooling, he has learned more than I could ever had expected! The curriculum for our program is already advanced compared to the schools here, and he's even in the advanced program for this program! I am proud of my son and proud of the fact that we home school, and if you don't like it, tough! It is our decision to make and not yours, and I want to give my child a better education that what these so called public schools can provide."

With that, the lady stomped out of the bookmobile and a few other ladies in the back clapped.

On a side note, that's not to say all public schools are bad....this blog is just from our personal experience. I know that there are some good schools out there.

So when you see someone who home schools their child, give them a pat on the back instead of telling them they aren't helping. They are home schooling for many reasons, and are always thinking of their children. Give them a pat on the back... trust me, it's no easy job, but it IS well worth the effort!