Clearly, I am not a homeschooling Momma. You know this because my kids are in public school and I worship the ground all teachers walk on. Once, for about 3 seconds, I thought about homeschooling these kids and then I came to my senses.

Dawn and I were talking about this this other day, and then she wrote this huge post about why she homeschools and she made a point to say she wasn’t being defensive and all about our talk and well, she’s such a talented writer that even if she were defensive, you would never know it because she is amazing that way.

Here’s the deal. I can’t homeschool. Even if I wanted to I don’t think I could do it. I bet there are homeschooling moms thinking I could because I seem organized, tenacious with the kids’ maze of healthcare and I juggle a lot. But I don’t have THAT in me. I don’t have the temperament for it. It absolutely would not be in Gage and Quinn’s best interest to homeschool them.

I actually think, that if I had it in me (and you get that I don’t, right?), I might be able to homeschool Quinn. She’s a slow learner because of her special needs, but she generally likes to learn and while it takes a while for her to retain what she learns, she does eventually get it.

Gage is another story altogether. He is a challenging child to educate on the best of days. I am not even kidding when I tell you that it takes 7 people to educate his basic academics. Seven. That doesn’t include arts, music, P.E. or the principal and assistant principal. The 7 educators have probably more than 80 years of combined experience and I can’t compete with their knowledge. I can’t offer them what they can. I can’t be 7 people.

While I was talking to Dawn the discussion turned to Gage’s unique special needs (I realize that I am using unique and special in the description). And I questioned if a parent without formal education training would be able to teach him at home adequately. In addition, I questioned if Gage would be able to get what he needs socially. One day Gage will have to make it in the world with rules and structure and authority (besides us parents) and I think the experience of school will help this.

I’ve been reading Dawn long enough to know the benefits of homeschooling, but I’m here to tell you that there is no way Gage could flourish in that environment. This makes me wonder how parents of special needs do it. I wonder if their kids get everything they could, say from 80 years of experience and seven people.

I can’t imagine how I’d be able to give the kids what these wonderful educators are able to give them. I like to think of myself as the educator of laughter and fun and the fighter for self-esteem, good medical care and blissful memories of childhood for kids with uncertain futures. And I’m the advocate of education. I think that’s enough.