The public school experience v. homeschool

There are so many benefits of homeschooling.  For our family the flexibility in scheduling has been so important as we traversed the United States.  We have also enjoyed the flexibility in choosing literature, social studies and science topics that are relevant to what is going on in our lives and the world.  There are many great resources out there and we have drawn upon many curricula to ensure our kids are caught up to, or beyond, their grade levels.  As one example we read The Giver and liked it so much that we continued with the quartet even though we didn't have a curriculum for the other three books.  However we really enjoyed reading and talking about the books together.  

Beyond flexibility in scheduling and curricula are the many intangible benefits of having your kids around for all the messy parts of adulting (solving problems, working through issues, being frustrated with fixing things, cleaning, organizing....).  When your kids are with you they learn from you in everyday activities, commentaries, etc.  They also do chores - Brother does all of the dishes (we have never had a dishwasher) and Sister puts the dishes away and matches socks.  They do these chores every day when they need to be done.  They take care of the cat and help with the RV when we are traveling.  Keeping the kids home also gives us more of an opportunity to be with them during these fleeting years between birth and late adolescents.  We purposely reduced our expenses and reduced the number of hours we needed to work so that we could devote our time to our kids.  It has been wonderful on many levels.

The downside is that our kids end up being isolated from people who don't think like us.  They also have few opportunities to solve their own problems away from us.  As Brother approached 7th grade I started to think about the young man he was becoming and the skills he was strong in and those where he needed opportunities to develop.  It is true that kids will not develop their own set of problem-solving skills with other people without practice.  For a middle-schooler this is increasingly important - for each person has to decide how they will approach and deal with the world.  Also, let's not kid ourselves, the 20-21 school year was lonely for many kids.  Our homeschooled kids, who looked forward to social outings and friend-dates, were more isolated with us than ever.  They need some friends their own age.  We can be parents and teachers, but it is really not in me to play at a 7-year-old or 11-year-old level (nor do I think that it would be beneficial for them).  

So at the end of their 6th grade and 1st grade years we started talking about whether they would be interested in going to school.  The timing was right for our family on another level.  Husband graduated with his software engineering degree in May and he wanted to put the degree to use and re-enter the workforce.  With him taking a full-time job and me working from home it would have been possible, but difficult, to continue to homeschool.  Thankfully the kids were keen on the idea....but public schools bring their own set of challenges and though we are on the third week, I feel I have run a marathon of stress and worry about the whole thing.

First, we are attending a small K-8 school, census is around 170 students.  It is a frontier area (very rural) and I knew the area was conservative.  I reached out to the school to ask about COVID precautions and explained my background and education in public health.  The administrator was very approachable and asked me to speak at the assembly on the first day of school and to write an educational letter to parents about masks.  In AZ the governor has banned mask mandates.  Small schools really have no choice but to follow the governor's guidance so masks are optional at our school.  I did write the letter and I did speak on the first day.  It didn't matter.  My kids are the only ones in their classes wearing masks and they are sick.  Sister became sick a week ago and I took her for strep and COVID testing at that time (both negative).  Since then Brother became sick so we went back for testing again today mainly because we were notified yesterday that there is a confirmed COVID case in the school.  It's so infuriating to send them into such an unsanitary environment every day when this disease can be prevented with minor planning and masking.  It is only because I teach statistics and understand the risk of the illness in kids that I send them (risk to kids is still small).  There shouldn't be a school in the nation without a mask mandate in place during these times.  

Secondly you would not believe the shit people say in that school.  Teachers talk about conspiracy theories with the kids like they are talking about the weather.  The most common is that Biden "stole the election" from Trump.  I went to a Lutheran K-8 so I am used to teachers spreading unverifiable claims, but I thought public schools were supposed to remain focused on approved curricula!  I am so proud of Brother.  The goal of this experience was for him to engage with people who think differently - that has been a mission accomplished!  

There are some benefits - the school has an excellent music teacher and Brother is learning viola and ukulele this year.  Sister will learn violin!  Certainly this is beyond what I could manage in homeschooling.  The school provides free breakfast and lunch to all kids everyday.  This is certainly convenient for me.  The kids have small class sizes - Brother has 13 students in his and Sister has 18.  Small class sizes facilitate more engagement with peers and the teachers.  We learned that we have neighbors with kids (one the same age as Sister) and they ride the bus together. We wouldn't have known about the kids on the homestead off in the distance.  

With all that said I question my decision to engage with the public school every day.  I want to stick it out because the kids are happy (albeit sick right now).  I guess I will see how the COVID tests turn out and continue to play it day-by-day!