When the subject of children comes up, and the inevitable question arrives, “how many kids do you guys have?”, the reaction to the answer is usually somewhere between mild shock and OMG!!!! “What!! 6 kids!!!” Lorrie and I jokingly call ourselves “breeders.” We actually got that from another couple who also have 6 kids. And what would an insane breeder couple want to do to punish themselves any more than having 6 kids, well…..how about homeschooling 6 kids! “Waaaaaaaaat?, they scream!!
And Why do you guys homeschool, you ask? It really boils down to a few issues. One. I will not allow my kids to ride the school bus. Sorry. I hated it growing up, and I won’t put my kids through it. Last year there was a reported rape on one of the Cheatham County school buses, involving a 6th grader! No thanks. So the other option is, get up at 6 and load the kids in our 12 passenger van (we call it the Harden family Church of Christ van) at the crack of dawn; uh, uh. We tried it, Anya spent 8th grade going to public school. She got very depressed that year, so we yanked her out. She’s a different person now and is very happy where she is.
Which leads me to my second point. We have control over what our children are being taught. I for one will not tolerate indoctrination of sexual lifestyles, or political viewpoints in grammar school. Without jumping on any political soapboxes, folks, it’s grammar school. If many of these public schools would stop focusing on political indoctrination and start focusing on, let’s say, hmmm.., reading, writing, and arithmetic, (wow, what a concept) maybe our public school system would churn out people that could, let’s say, hmmm., read, write, and add!! Instead they are focusing on social issues, sexual indoctrination issues, and feel good, self esteem programs that help them to feel better about themselves, no matter how little they learn. Then they send their socially correct, sexually oriented, high self esteemed graduates into the competitive world, where other graduates can read, write, and add. You know, the real world. This real world is competitive. Plain and simple. If you can’t do the basics, how are you going to move beyond the basics. School is the foundation, the footer if you will. And you can’t build a building without the foundation.
Another reason for our decision is faith based. We are Christians, and I want my kids to grow up reading and studying the Bible as part of their schooling. We memorize Bible verses and do Bible studies. Thanks to the ACLU, you can’t do anything like that in public school without being slapped with a lawsuit. We did try private school. At the time it was 4200.00 dollars per year, per child. Now the same school is almost 10k per child and we would have 5 in school at once. Now for those of you who did go through the high self esteem, no adding required programs, that adds up to 50k bucks!!! Ouch.
Homeschooling also allows us to set family goals. For instance, one of our 2011 goals is to spend a month studying the founding fathers and Washington, D.C. We then plan to take a 2 week trip to our capitol to see firsthand what we read about.
I don’t blame anyone for thinking we’re nuts. They way we are raising our kids definitely isn’t normal. But it is the way we have chosen. It’s not without it’s pitfalls. Let’s just say that some of our kids are easier to home school than others. And there is the 2 year old running around. He is a handful without adding 5 other kids to the mix. But it’s gonna work. And so far it’s going well. Anya has consistently tested 3 grades ahead of where she is supposed to be.
I’m not sure whether my kids will follow in our footsteps. I want them to be happy and follow their passions. Even if it is “breeding” and driving a very sexy 12 passenger, extended “Harden Family Church of Christ” van! Now if I can just keep the youth group from church from borrowing it!
Ok, onto other insane questions, why did we breed? Why did I go into the music business? How can I get my 13 year old to take the dogs out without being told. How do I get my 13 year old to stop playing the drums?
