Prepare Your Kids for Liberal College Stuffs (and Loving Those Who Are Struggling)

*Originally written in 2023 but I had to sit on this post a bit. I'd love to hear your respectful comments.

First day of community college for a couple of my kids, and it's the same old story in a couple of their classes...

Don't want to start a Facebook war, so I'm keeping this post on my very own blog. And here is my question:

Why do so many teachers at places like a local Kansas City community college try to insert their liberal agenda into places it doesn’t even need to be? 

Why start Intro to Psychology class on the first day talking about how we came from monkeys? 

Do these teachers think their way is the only way, or do they just not care about being respectful? And is it even necessary to insert certain things into the lesson? 

Pretty sure if I went into my first day of teaching at JCCC for a Comp class and was like, “So we all know Jesus died for our sins so let’s all write a paper about that,” I would be booed off the campus. 

The best teachers are the ones who you don’t have a clue at the end of the semester if they are religious or not, gay or not, vegan, etc. Nothing much personal is shared unless it’s boring, like an allusion to their children or the fact that they like to swim.

During my 10 years off and on at community college from 1989-1999, I don't remember much about my teachers' personal lives or opinions. There was one teacher who I suspected was gay, but she didn't say a word and never hit us over the head with it. 

Now I follow her on Instagram because she was a FANTASTIC teacher, and, yep, she's gay and is free to share all her opinions on her social media. Where it should be kept. Not in the classroom.

As a teacher, I am not there to teach about my own personal opinions and profess them as the only way. Nope, not even when I teach high school at the Catholic homeschool coop. Of course, we are mostly all Catholic there, so that makes it easier.

Heck, even in the Dave Ramsey Personal Finance class, where I am supposed to teach that CREDIT CARDS ARE EVIL, I listen respectfully to the kids who say their parents have a credit card that racks up mad points for trips and such, and they pay it off monthly and always have. I acknowledge that Dave Ramsey is not a financial god and that everyone has to do what's right for their own family. (I now advocate for my kids to get a credit card when they hit 18 because you can't get an apartment if you have zero credit, as we found out when my 21-year-old with plenty of money in the bank tried to get an apartment in the town where the college is located where he got a full scholarship.)

Side Note: 

Please teach your children to be respectful of other people and their different views. I'm not talking about being respectful of someone who knowingly does horrible things with no regard for humanity or animals. I'm talking about things like this:

My daughter mostly keeps to herself on matters of religion, as she's currently struggling.

Someone says something to her about, "Thank God..." and she says something back like, "I don't believe in God."

Unhelpful responses might include: "You're crazy!" or "That's dumb." or "But your whole family does."

Nobody knows God's plan for anyone else. My daughter who currently does not believe in God could very well end up being a nun or a pastor's wife or a very helpful person in the Catholic community. To judge her harshly at the age of 15 is not only wrong, but it's also potentially harmful to her coming back to being a believer.

Will I love her and support her either way? Yep. And I know you don't have to. But you also don't have to cause harm.

So, yes, my kids are respectful to the teachers who say we came from monkeys or like to insert things about trans rights into lessons where they don't even belong.

Homeschooling during Coronavirus? Help for the Non-Homeschooler!

Worried about working from home or just being home for weeks on end (akin to summer break) WHILE educating them? I've been doing it for almost 19 years and, yeah, it's a lot to handle!

Thankfully, Rage Against the Minivan has help for you in the form of this awesome blog post and checklist called COVID-19 School Closure Homeschool Checklist!

When it was shared on Facebook, there were some rude comments, like "good luck with that" and "don't be disappointed when it doesn't work out," but I chose the high road of encouragement:

"I homeschool 5 kids ages 10-18 and have from the beginning. This is a great schedule! I think the 2-page paper is a lot for some kids, but the rest seems reasonable to me! You go, girl! Plus for a lot of kids who are in school 7 hours a day plus homework, this is going to be a walk in the park but they will still be learning!"

You can also check out my article titled Bust Indoor Boredom over here at Calgary's Child if you need more ideas for how to keep kids occupied while home!

And if things get too stressful during this already-crazy time, just toss it all out the window and PLAY, watch movies and documentaries, read to your kids (check out Read-Aloud Revival), bake together, snuggle up and eat popcorn. Have fun!

Or your life right now might more closely resemble this every now and then (shrug):

Help for Homeschool Burnout

*See below for an update on this post, which was originally published January 28, 2014

There came a point where I looked around and realized that most homeschooling families I knew who had kids beyond about 7th grade had put those older kids in school while usually keeping the younger ones at home. I reasoned this must be because kids get more difficult as they get older, as they are finding themselves and turning into mini adults.

I was talking with a friend who is feeling the burnout. I realized I am also feeling it and my signs include avoiding doing school and leaving the house to do other things or calling Animal Jam and Moshi Monsters "school." I found some great links on homeschool burnout in case you are going through some of it. And remember, if you do put your kids in school, you are not a failure. You have to do what is best for your family. I will miss seeing you during the day at homeschool group stuff and my kids will miss your kids, but we understand. Please read on:

Dear Homeschool Mom Who Wants to Quit

The Ever-Rocking Penelope Trunk, mom with Asperger's and has sons with it, as well

Penelope also takes on Parent Burnout

A mom of five talks about putting her kids in school

My whole blog is dedicated to encouraging burnt out homeschooling moms, moms considering school, and former homeschooling moms. I have several new posts on homeschool burn out. https://rest-for-the-weary.blogspot.com

Yes, I count a day at Science City as "school" ... they are engineering and building and using their minds.

UPDATE: Four years later and we are still going strong. I have a 1st grader, 3rd grader, 6th grader, 8th grader and 10th grader (sophomore in high school). Going to a co-op a few hours one day a week has helped a lot, and virtual school got us through for a couple of years until I was ready to kick it to the curb and start doing my own thing again, much of which involves advice and programs from:

Brave Writer (mom of 5 grown kids "gets" me and calms my fears of the future)

Read Aloud Revival (Catholic mom of 6 swears reading aloud to your kids will create lasting and meaningful connections and I see it in my home)

Homeschooling Sisters podcast/blogs (they don't try to be perfect)

Khan Academy (free math and more program) so we can track their progress, no matter how fast or slow (progress is progress!)

Reading Eggs for my struggling readers

YouTube (such great educational stuff, including Crash Course)

Teaching Textbooks for math so it feels like we are getting something done

Educational field trips and social times, like having a Mardi Gras party for our coop at our new home in the country

Homeschool Moms are a Special Breed

This is a great article on Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers titled 10 Things You Should Know About Homeschool Moms.

Bear with me while I comment on some of the points:

1. I do not have an extra amount of patience. I have to work at it, and sometimes I yell.

2. I don't have a teaching degree but I know how to teach something 10 different ways, and it's easy when I don't have 25 other kids to try to keep quiet or to make them understand it also.

3. Hey, lady at the Catholic school (you know who you are): stop trying to recruit me! I'm cool with my choice.

4. I am not an amazing cook and I don't iron or sew. I am more of a fun-teaching mom, and of course I also fit in the basics, all while running my freelance writing/editing business. I don't have time to also be SuperHuman Domestic Goddess. Priorities.

I am all of these! (aophomeschooling.com)

5. I love learning things again or things that never "took" the first time!

6. Algebra freaks me out but I know I can learn it again my own way and teach it. If that fails, my husband can teach it, since we are like puzzle pieces that fit together and complement each other in the knowledge are.

7. Sometimes I worry that my kids aren't learning EVERYTHING they are supposed to know. Then I realize most of us only probably retained 10% of what we learned in school, and I hit it again the next day, knowing they can always look stuff up later that they don't retain. As long as they know basic things like reading, writing, math and research skills, they can do anything!

8. I am not perfect and do make mistakes. I learn from them, move on, explain to my kids that I messed up.

9. I'm not trying to turn my kids against society by homeschooling.

10. We LOVE homeschooling so much! We get to travel with my husband to cool places he works, take days off when we need to, watch cool educational stuff, be together as a family, go on amazing field trips and so much more.

To First-Year Homeschool Moms

If this is your first year homeschooling you may be tempted to try to do everything perfectly. Please don't. Or do. Whatever works for you. You have to feel your way around this minefield that is educating your own kids, friends.

Try out unschooling or try out ordering curriculum or try out making your own curriculum or try out unit studies or whatever is in between. Just do me a favor, would you?

Give yourself a break.

Okay, two favors.

The other one is, don't compare yourself to the veterans.

But do ask for their help. Seek out someone who won't try to intimidate you or give you bossy, perfectionist advice and make friends.

Good luck. You can do this!

Homeschooling Through Remodeling

English class. The writing is literally on the wall. I got out my red pen and corrected the word. Just kidding!

We recently decided to rip up our nasty pink carpet in our living room and dining room and sand/shellac the hardwood floors. This process took about a week of Mr. Kerrie working hard and tweaking things so everything looks amazing. For a while the couch was in the garage and the kids had a blast hanging out there. For a while the bookshelves were in the playroom upstairs and finding things was not easy.

One day I looked at the bookshelf upstairs and thought about how, even though it might only be a week, I should unbox those dang books to get some semblance of order and to make it easier to find things anyway. We "officially" started school on the 3rd and I wanted to be able to find some books.

BEFORE, view into the living room

AFTER, view out of the dining room

Today is the 6th and we are getting things back in order. I don't want to go back to having crap tossed all over the shelves so I'm carefully unpacking the re-boxed books I brought downstairs to put on shelves. I'm recycling a lot of paper items. I'm giving away a lot of things we'll never use.

This post is to let you know there will ALWAYS be challenges along the road of homeschooling, whether that means remodeling or being sick or having a sick child or being pregnant or caring for an aging relative or coping with a job loss or a husband who travels or WHATEVER.

Just come here for support. You'll get through it; trust me!