On my journey from Kindergarten to the 12th grade, I had many teachers. Many of these teachers influenced where I am today. They have also influenced the fact that I now homeschool my own children.
The first teacher who had a big influence on me was my third grade teacher. I was out of school quite a bit that year due to chronic tonsillitis and a bit of bullying that I did not want to deal with. She made it a point to praise me regularly pointing out that I did very well in spite of my absences. One day, she was I sitting alone, looking lonely and sad, and she walked over to me with a book. It was her own book. The title was The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Because of her actions, I began reading at the rate of 300 pages a day, and because of that teacher, reading has become a huge part of my life. This teacher influenced my homeschooling journey because I know that just instilling the love of reading had a huge affect on my education and I wanted to do the same thing for my kids.
In the 7th grade, I had a wonderfully fun male teacher. He just seemed excited to be there. With all of his enthusiasm however, he specifically taught to the test. We all loved him and we all got good grades, but before every test, he would dictate a study guide, which we would write down to study. The tests were generally word-for-word from these study guides. Looking back, as fondly as I remember that teacher, I know that I did not do any long term learning that year. I also remember having a very hard time the next year, as my studying skills were rusty. The teacher influenced my homeschool journey because I learned that popularity and happy kids did not necessarily mean kids were educated. When my son had a similar experience in first grade, I was able to question the teacher as to why school was so easy. She replied, “Well, you don’t want me to frustrate the other children do you”. I knew then that it was my job alone to look out for my child’s best interest.
To be continued…
Read: Even Teachers Don’t Finish the Textbook
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