In about two weeks, my stepdaughter will begin her last year of high school. For simplicity’s sake, I’ve chosen to start our school year at the same time hers does. While she’s finally doing well in school and reasonably happy, it took us a very long time to get here, and I’m still not satisfied with the education she’s receiving.

All this, plus a comment on a website about whether we all simply home school out of fear, has got me thinking back over the many reasons I home school. They can basically be broken down into Things I Don’t Want For My Daughter, and Things I Do Want For My Daughter.

Here are the DON’Ts:
1. A poor education. Our town’s public schools consistently fall below state averages.
2. An education so expensive it may as well be college, like some of the private schools here.
3. To have her be away from home most of the day, most days, being taught and
essentially raised by strangers.
4. For her to be having a problem, and me to not be informed of it.
5. An education that does not encourage her to rise to her potential.
6. For her to find school so unpleasant that she’s turned off of learning.
7. For her to be in a peer environment that values cutting.
8. For her to be in a peer group that devalues grades and work.
9. For her to find out what its like to be bullied.
10. For her to be afraid of her teachers.
11. For her to be ashamed because of how someone else treated her.
12. For her to skate through because she’s not a behavior problem.
13. For her to learn any of the following valuable lessons I picked up in public elementary school, along with the days of the week and names of the continents:

-If they don’t notice you, nothing too bad will happen.

-If you get picked on, it’s your own fault, and you deserve it. There’s something
wrong with you that makes this happen.

- Friends are the people willing to let you sit with them in the cafeteria and to play
with them at recess, no matter how badly they treat you.

-They hit and tease you because they like you (that gem came from my mother).

-Don’t trust adults, not even your own parents, because NO ONE will protect you or
even try to understand your feelings.

- If you have trouble with a subject, it’s because you are lazy and have a bad attitude.

You can class all that in the DON’T category.

Here are the Dos:

1. For her to have a close, trusting relationship with her family.
2. For her to have a close, trusting relationship with her friends.
3. For her to be assertive.
4. To have art and music classes regularly (many of our schools don’t).
5. To have Phys Ed regularly that is an actual class (many of our schools don’t even
have gyms).
6. To treat others with respect and courtesy.
7. To be treated by others with respect and courtesy.
8. That learning is fun (I know I am stretching here).
9. To receive HELP if she has trouble with a subject, not blame.
10. To get a good education.
11. To be taught and raised by the people who love her.