I went to a meeting with the North Carolina Department of Non-Public Education (DPNE) yesterday. The meeting was in a small, kind of shabby conference room on the floor right above the North Carolina Governor’s offices. There was a very nice, not too knowledgeable lady there to review my paperwork. I had the required attendance sheets, immunization records, and nationally normed standardized test results. The lady with whom I spoke had a masters degree in education and was working on a second masters degree in public administration. While she was very gracious, I was underwhelmed by her knowledge of homeschool topics both with respect to North Carolina and in general. I asked her whether there were any members of the DPNE who homeschooled their children and was told there are not. Oh well.
So, I went home, just to find out that we had a problem at work that required my presence. I grabbed something to eat and headed out the door back to work while Lorena, Kelly, and Christian ran off to Gospel Meeting in Fuquay-Varina. Another day in the life. I do not know what I was expecting out of the whole review, but it was a little bit of a let down. The lesson I took out of it is that no one is really interested in my kids at all. If I do not do the right things by them, no one will. I was thankful for the reminder.
November 10, 2004 – Lorena passes the 2nd test!
November 11, 2004 – Logic and critical thinking
Wow, how disappointing! We who are so enthused about our kid’s educations…well, I guess I’ve been let down too, by family mostly, when no one else is as interested as I am. When people who never miss a school program, but take no interest in your kids latest achievements…it’s the same feeling. You guys are one of our only “support groups” and know that we read your blog every day just to cheer ourselves up and get inspiration for the years ahead.
Keep up the good work. I know what Eric would say about this…he would say we should see it as a good thing (he says this about everything that gets me down!) because it gives us the freedom to do it our way without too much interference from outside groups.
But this is just an artificial disappointment. A major disappointment for us this week was when I gave the kids their 1st ever real TEST and they both flunked! Sigh, back to the drawing board we go, with a lot more testing in the future to help those nerves!!
Thanks for the great note. I do not know whether to be discouraged or encouraged by the fact that, to be better than the vast majority, all that is required is to pay attention. We are really glad there are people out there like you and your family and glad there are some out there who have the same priorities as us. We are glad not only that you are homeschooling, but you are homeschooling in ways that show up as extremely positive results in your kids. We know we do not get everything right, but the one thing we feel really good about is not sticking our kids on a bus to spend the day with strangers who have fundamentally different worldviews than us.
I cannot not imagine that your kids flunked a test! You must have corrected it wrong! Isn’t it great to have such a short feedback loop on your testing that you can make adjustments an teach material within minutes after the end of the test.
P.S. I am with Eric. It IS a good thing. I used to get majorly sad when my family, neighbors, and friends expressed their skepticism about our homeschool. I am finally to the point where I expect skepticism, but that magnifies the effect of those who are support our efforts. Unexpected support seems so much more satisfying and we (you guys, too) have been doing this long enough that the result of not doing it this way are readily apparent even though our kids are not perfect and we often fail.