MORE REASONS TO HOMESCHOOL

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Back To School Lists for Public Schools

As I was shopping for a few discounted items yesterday, I talked with a woman who had an extensive “School Supply List” provided by her local school district. She was instructed to buy 3 – 3 pocket folders with prongs in red, blue and yellow. She couldn’t find them. They did have 2 and 4 pocket ones available, but there was not a 3 pocket one in sight. A Google search revealed that these little beauties cost $16-22 each. Now maybe this is a typo; maybe it should have read 2 pocket, but it didn’t. It read 3 pocket (and had specific colors listed too). This was too much for me to fathom. Her child needs to have a red, yellow and blue folder just like every other third grader. It dawned on me, I can’t afford to send my kids to public school!

I CAN’T AFFORD PUBLIC SCHOOLS

I have homeschooled for the last 22 years, and every year for the last 22 years someone inevitably says to me, “I can’t afford to homeschool,” or “Both my husband and I have to work full-time to make ends meet, so we can’t homeschool.” Now I am not going to debate those statements, but I am simply going to present my case. I can’t afford to send my kids to public school!

Twenty-two years ago things were very different. My oldest son went to kindergarten. The first day of school (not 2-4 weeks before), the teacher presented my son with a list of items they should have – a bookbag, a file folder (one of his choosing), a thick pencil, a 24 pack of crayons, and a few other miscellaneous items. This list did not break the bank. After kindergarten we decided to homeschool, and my days of mandated school lists were over.

BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING FOR THE HOMESCHOOL MOM

Now when I go “Back to School” shopping I do not buy much. I have the luxury of spreading it out over the course of a year. I tend to pick up only the deeply discounted items – a handful (4 or 5) of glue sticks, a couple packages of lined paper, and about 10 spiral bound notebooks in my children’s favorite colors. My back to school shopping usually means I spend under $20. The crayons that I bought last year are still good, as are the colored pencils. I pick up a few pencils at our local fair that are handed out by some businesses, government entity, or politician (for free), and most times I can get a ruler there too! We don’t need a bookbag or antibacterial wipes. Most years I am simply oblivious to the plight of the public school mom.

After my encounter with the 3 pronged file-folder mom, I got home and across my Facebook news feed was an article entitled, “Why Your Child’s Teacher is Asking for 45 Glue Sticks.” Later that night I heard from my nephew that his son needed 16 glue sticks for kindergarten. It got me to thinking of all the reasons I can’t afford to send my kids to public school.

Forty-five glue sticks on sale cost approximately $12. I am homeschooling two children so I would be spending $24 on glue sticks. The hundreds of dollars spent by families for just glue sticks is mind boggling. 45 glue sticks works out to a glue stick used every 4 days. I am not sure this is even humanely possible. I suspect that teachers stockpile glue sticks because they are a component in some highly illegal substance.

Imagine Sitting In One Seat for Long Periods of Time

I also started thinking about all the time spent sitting in seats cutting and gluing. I realized that 2 of my 3 older children would never have sat long enough to use all those glue sticks, and if they did manage to use that many glue sticks, I would need to pay for some serious therapy for them. I could never afford this therapy.

Furthermore, when they got home from school after sitting and using massive amounts of glue sticks, I would probably need therapy to deal with my children who came home from school after sitting for extended periods of time gluing. One of my children would sit and pretend to cut and paste, but at the end of class, his cutting and pasting would not have been done. He would end up with detention, and I would have to drive to the school to pick him up after school, using my gas, costing me more money every day.

I also saw a list that had 4 pink erasers. I still have the same eraser that I used in middle school. Those things last forever. What does anyone need with 4?

I did check my local school district supply lists to see what my children would be required to bring. Jack-Jack’s list would look something like this:

SCHOOL SUPPLIES LIST

“Please be sure that your child’s first and last name is on all of his/her belongings, including individual pencils and markers.”Wait! I am supposed to label each individual item and there are 24 pencils!!!!  (Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That)

Book bag (no wheels) 

2 packs of #2 sharpened pencils (NO mechanical please) This one confused me – a pack generally has 12 pencils. 24 pencils is a lot of writing. The average pencil will draw a line 35 miles long or write 45,000 words. That’s 1,080,000 words. Maybe the pencils are used along with the glue sticks to make the above mentioned mysterious substance.

Crayons (24 count box) 

Large glue sticks (4) 

Elmer’s Liquid Glue (1 bottle) 

Student Scissors (1 pair) 

Folders with BOTTOM POCKETS (1 red, 1 yellow, 1 blue and 1 green) 

Tissues (2 boxes) 

Gallon size baggies 

Sandwich size baggies 

Colored pencils (1 pack)

Antibacterial wipes (one container) 

Highlighters (1 pack) 

1 pack Expo Dry Erase markers (thin) 

1 old sock for erasing  (This I could do. In fact, I could supply the entire State of Ohio with old socks for erasing. Clearly these are not used in the making of the contraband substance.)

2-one subject notebooks (wide ruled) 

2 – 1” binders (any color – clear plastic cover) 

1 – 10 ct. box Crayola classic colors broad line markers 

1 pack of 3X5 index cards with lines 

4 Post-it note pads (any color 3X3 size)

This list isn’t close to some of the extreme ones that I have seen. However, all kidding aside, in addition to the financial costs of school supplies, clothing, lunch boxes (do they even have those anymore?), etc., there is another hidden cost. The cost of losing your child’s soul. 

THE HIDDEN COSTS OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS and The Number One Reason Why I Homeschool!

Everyday children are put into the hands of people that you, as a parent, do not know. You trust the government-run system to teach, mold and shape your child into a loving, caring, Christ-follower. And some of the time it works out, but “some of the time” is a gamble I am not willing to make. When my husband and I were talking about the teachers we had during our school years, and if we would want our children to have any of them, I could count on one hand the number of teachers that I felt were excellent. My kindergarten teacher was a charming older woman who clearly loved her job and loved children. But then I didn’t have another “I love this teacher” moment until 6th grade. Most of them were not bad teachers, but they weren’t the type of person that “I would leave my child with every-day-for-a-year.” Most people I talk with answer the same way.

The really scary part is that I encountered some horrendous, abusive teachers. These were teachers that should have lost their jobs. Now I know you may be saying that things are different today, but I still hear stories and read news articles. There are children that have been bullied mercilessly while teachers failed to intervene; there are teachers that have sex with students; there are teachers that have put children in closets and duffel bags; and there are bus drivers and aides that have punched and kicked children.

Not All Teachers are Bad

I know my children’s teacher and she really loves her students. In addition, she is selective with the people she trusts with them. 

My children have been left with Sunday School teachers, piano teachers, babysitters, and I have had certified teachers that have tutored my children through the years. All of these people were wonderful individuals that have added to their learning experiences. But friends have told me horror stories through the years of their public school experiences with their children. These stories are not for the faint of heart.

When you factor in the heart of your child into the cost of the public school education, that is one hefty price to pay. And with such a high price to pay I simply cannot afford to send my children to public school.

Benefits of Homeschooling the Struggling Learner

Homeschooling Pros and Cons

Homeschooling Autism – The Benefits