Middle America's Worldview

We are on a verge of deciding a lot of changes regarding our family and how we do things.

PTA will be done, for us, next Tuesday. It will be the last one we attend as officers. Although, I enjoyed being part of something bigger, I think it's time. Since, we will be ending our activity (wish consisted of more time than I realized), we are looking for additional activities.

Kel is looking into creating a Girl Scout Troop in this area. I am looking to start up a Cub Scout in this area. Currently, we have neither for our town. As I look into this, I find myself looking forward to it. It's interesting on how to setup a Den or Pack (cubscouts) from nothing. There are some packs in the towns nearby, but none within our town. I am looking forward to getting this started.

Additionally, we are seriously considering Home schooling. I am still researching both the scouting and home schooling. As I learn more of each, I find a unknown world opening up before me. I did not realize there were so many options and opportunities regarding home schooling. Examples: There are over 100,000 kids currently being home schooled in Oklahoma alone. There are many many structured groups regarding home schooling. The available curriculums far out weighs the current public school system. I watched a DVD demo regarding the Becka curriculum and was very surprised to see the grade level knowledge of the kids in comparison of the expectations placed in public schools. The Becka curriculum demanded more and the kids excelled in memory verse, ect.

Do I think home schooling is for everyone? No. While there are many positives to be found, there are also examples of the other end of the spectrum. While it has been conveyed to me Oklahoma is the best state within the Continental United States to home school due to protection of the state constitution, I see a means for parents to abuse it. I spoke with a parent on the other side of the state, and quite frankly, it scared me. Oklahoma may be the best state to provide home schooling, it doesn't have requirements. This is then placed on the parents in what is taught to their children. Knowing this, you can already see the implications it may bring on the child. If you have lazy parents, it will fail the kids. I do not find myself with this concern regarding our own. So currently, I think if the parents have the means and can facilitate it, I think home schooling would be a outstanding plus for the kids.

With these two things looming ahead, I can see a major change in how we would raise our children. We could incorporate the value system of the scouting along with the high curriculum at home. This would provide us with a unparallel chance to structure our kids in a good way. Of course none of this would even start till after the summer vacation, but the decision and preparation would be necessary before then.