To homeschool or not.

I went to a meeting last night and it scared me.

I have been obsessively stressing thinking a lot about when the boys start Kindergarten. what should we do? Private school is cost prohibitive, and the options near us are not exactly what I see as a good fit for us. Public school is in a state of disrepair. In addition to my opposition to the direction in which a public school education teaches, in preparation for the many, many standardized tests, there is the budget crisis in the State of California.

Last night I was told that next year it is a very strong possibility that the class sizes in our district will go from 24 children (which is already a lot of kids) to as many as 36. WITH. ONE. TEACHER. The principal who was giving this presentation said, "oh, don't worry, years ago we always had 32 or more kids in a class". I was outraged.

(Here is where I'm going to rant a little)
Years ago, we were not expecting our Kindergartners to be reading by the time they left. Years ago we were not expecting that Kindergartners were writing all of their letters and numbers properly. Years ago Kindergartners were not learning to add and subtract. Years ago Kindergartners were learning their letters in Kindergarten. Years ago Kindergartners were socializing in Kindergarten. Kindergarten was preschool. Now we expect 4 and 5 year old children to sit still for 120 minutes of language arts, 60 minutes of math, 30 minutes of science, 30 minutes of social studies, with only 30 minutes for art, music, physical education, 40 minutes for lunch and 40 minutes of snack/recess time. Seriously? Really? This doesn't sound like Kindergarten to me. And I know, broken down like that it sounds worse than it really is. I'm sure the learning is interactive and can be considered play. But does it sound like fun to you? I remember Kindergarten as a fun place. I remember it as a place I started a lifetime of learning to LOVE learning. This sounds like an education testing factory to me.

Everything I have learned about early childhood education has taught me that young children learn best by doing, playing, observing and discussing. Not from worksheets. I have a friend who is a mom of a Kindergartner, her son comes home with a packet of 20 worksheets for homework every month. He is required to write the letter or number on the worksheet 50 times. Wow, that sounds fun and engaging. That sounds like a great way to stifle all of the love for learning right out of a 5 year old.

You know what really pushed me over the edge last night? When one of the teachers said that even now, with 24 student, she spends more time with the kids that really need it, the kids that are behind (behind in Kindergarten mind you) and that the kids that are doing well, have to do so more on their own. Yikes. I DO. NOT. LIKE. THE. SOUND. OF. THAT! Not at all.

So now I am freaking out really stressing.

I love my children, I love being with them. But I think they need to take direction and learn from other adults. I also think I might not have the required patience to teach Kindergarten. I also believe that separation is a good thing.

In a perfect world? I'd find a couple of like minded families, hire a teacher, share the costs and our homes, and my boys would get the best possible education. They would be constantly challenged, without feeling pressured. They would have one on one attention everyday. They would be exposed to anything and everything. They would develop a zeal and true love of learning. Oh, and I wouldn't be the only adult in the room!