I was thinking today. Public schools are apparently consistently short of cash, and many extra curricular programs are. One of the main reasons someof us find ourselves getting opposition to homeschooling is “but think of all they’ll miss out on!” And we respond “yes, but just look at all the opportunities out there.”
The thing is, we have to pay for all these opportunities ourselves.
My public-schooled nieces and nephews are constantly bringing me flyers for things they’re selling for the various programs they’re in. I got to thinking, why can’t we do the same? Yes, we’ve got Cub Scout popcorn and Girl Scout Cookies around here. But we’re funding their educations, and the educations of at least two other kids through our taxes, all by ourselves.
So, why *can’t* we do this? I know a lot of us are strapped on cash.
A friend of mine, several years ago, told me about a fundraiser her kids did, selling live wreaths. Each year they made enough to pay for a good chunk of their curriculum; or provide them with excellent opportunities–horseback riding lessons, music lessons, etc. It’s actually too late this year for the wreath thing–you’d want to be selling them in
October and early November.
What do you all think? I think we’re just as legitimate a “school” as they are, so we can legitimately fundraise!
2 responses so far ↓
1 Heather // Dec 7, 2007 at 4:10 am
I have some homeschooling friends that have done t-shirt sales for cash. My kids did yard sales all summer with items they collected from friends and neighbors –it made a great project and the kids learned a ton–including that people are more likely to buy if you explain that this is your homeschool project.
2 MInTheGap // Dec 7, 2007 at 2:33 pm
That’s a good point– of course they could blog for money, sell stuff on ebay and do other kinds of things to help pay for some of their education.
Personally, I think that some amount of work for teenage children is appropriate, so I’m not totally in agreement with child labor laws– but that’s a whole other ball of wax.
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