As if the past six months weren't reason enough....

....I have a new reason to be thankful for homeschooling. The Marshall County Board of Education has been operating in the red. We have FIVE school systems in our county. (Our county is not that big) So basically, all the tax money coming from anywhere in the city limits of any of our four cities goes to fund that city's schools. The county schools are thus left with hoping enough sales are generated at gas stations and junk stores located outside of "city areas". Well, guess what? Not enough sales = not enough tax revenues to keep the schools going. So it leaves the board with tough decisions to make. Like consolidating some of the schools. We had a lower than normal attendance at church Wednesday night because of a meeting that was set at Claysville Junior High School to talk about what happens when the school closes. Yep, our local school is going to be shut down. The kids will be bused to other schools. What is ridiculous is that if my children were still in public school, the would end up going to Brindlee Mountain. To get to Brindlee Mountain they would have to ride through downtown Guntersville, passing by where the Guntersville Elementary School is located. Considering the fact that the school bus already passes by here at 6:30 in the morning to get to a school less than five miles away, who knows what time they would have to load the buses to get to the other side of town. There are a lot of angry parents. I understand not wanting things to be like this. I also understand that budget cut backs that are beyond the systems control, as well as not being able to raise enough money are to blame. I do not know how many of the teachers at Claysville will be moved to other schools and how many will just lose their jobs. Schools need a major overhaul in how they operate. I am very thankful that I am able to homeschool. I am thankful that my children are exposed to wonderful books, art, music and (gulp) Bible studies. I am thankful that it is 7:36 and they are still in bed, rather than having to get them up before daylight. I am thankful they are learning in an environment that encourages them to be smart. (you would think schools would do this, but have you ever seen a school that glorified the "nerds" while sticking the athletes off to the side? ever seen one that would remodel the science lab even if it meant leaving the gym in less than perfect condition? me neither) I am thankful that I get to learn stuff right along with them. There is so much that I did not know about Revolutionary War. I did not know that women and children would often follow where the soldiers were going to battle. I had heard the phrase "taxation without representation is tyranny" but I never knew why the states were being taxed. I have already been looking at what we are going to do next year. We are going to learn about Egypt during the first few weeks. When I was younger I can remember in church hearing about Egypt being so important and being such a vast kingdom. But all I knew of Egypt was that it was a desert and had some giant pyramids. As an adult who started watching the history channel I learned more about Egypt than I ever did in school. My kids are going to learn what made it such a vast kingdom and how it is not all desert. They are going to learn about ancient China , India and the Americas. They are going to learn about early Greek and Roman life, with the understanding that this is the culture Christ was born in, these are the false gods that the first Christians were battling. I was taught mythology in third grade. I did not realize until I was an adult that the same stories I heard and thought were fairy-tales were the same false gods I was reading about in the Bible. (granted I am a little slow sometimes, I was born blonde) I am so thankful that my children are going to get an education that I never dreamed was possible when I was a child. And hey- they get to receive said education wearing pajamas, superhero costumes (including being dressed as Captain Underpants-sweatsuit with tighty-whiteys on the outside)long-johns, sweat pants or even (gasp!) regular clothes.