Sometimes it’s Okay to Quit
I have never let my schooling interfere
with my education.
~ Mark Twain
From childhood, we are told it’s a sign of weakness to be quitters. Admittedly, there are plenty of things that are bad to quit without good reason…such as marriage and jobs.
And college.
(Some people even decide to quit living…and that never turns out well.)
“Once you start something, finish it!” We’ve all heard that noble saying. But the mistake lies in making that statement all-inclusive, because sometimes it is okay to quit.
Last summer, we “quit” homeschooling in favor of online public schooling. The boys’ school, Insight School of WA, despite its glitches, has been working out pretty well. Not so with Erica’s school. The number of hoops (a.k.a., busywork) that Washington Virtual Academy (WAVA) wants parents to jump through as ”learning coaches” is over the top. I won’t go into it all here (let’s just say I had less work when I was homeschooling her)…but I made my concerns known to Erica’s teacher (who was really wonderful), and maybe WAVA will eventually get a clue. Hopefully before enrollment starts dropping astronomically.
Don’t get me wrong–WAVA is a good school, and many families are happy with it. WAVA uses the K12 curriculum, which is one of the best around (I was very happy with their representation of Jesus and Christianity in Erica’s world history course). It just wasn’t a good fit for us. For something that was supposed to make things easier around here, it actually became a camel on our backs.
And, so, we find ourselves…once again…quitting. But it’s a good thing, this quitting. You see, my gut instinct originally was to keep homeschooling Erica through junior high, so this is a confirmation that I should have stayed on that path.
But sometimes you just don’t realize how well something’s working until you give it up.
Nevertheless, I’ve appreciated this whole experience. Why? Because it’s made me so grateful for educational choice. I will never, ever tell someone that they must give their child a certain kind of education, whether it’s public, private, charter, alternative, homeschooling, or online. There shouldn’t be just one way. We started out as private schoolers (with Joel in preschool) who became homeschoolers who later had the choice to switch to online public schooling. I so appreciate that I was still able to keep my kids at home, but was able to let go of the burden of doing the teaching (with the exception of WAVA). I wasn’t forced to put them in a brick-and-mortar school.
So, I guess you could say we’re a “mixed-education” family! I will always fight for the right of people to homeschool their kids, but even more, I will champion their right to choose their desired form of education. There is no one form of education that is right for everyone.
If your child isn’t thriving in school (wherever/whatever that school might be), it’s okay to take a look at other options. Don’t worry about what your friends and extended family think. (If, for example, you decide to quit homeschooling against “their” wishes, are “they” going to run right over and teach your kids?? I think not!) The important thing is to do what’s right for your family, even if that includes quitting.
Just don’t forget to start again on a better path. 
