School vs life experience

 

So this is a bit of a different post, more of a rant I suppose.  As you all know my oldest son is big into rodeo.  This year he decided to join the Canadian pro circuit, and is doing well, he is sitting 9th overall in the Jr. Steer riding.  If you do not follow rodeo, this is a huge accomplishment.  He is competing against kids from all across Canada.  So it is safe to say, with him I am raising a rodeo kid.  Rodeo kids are just a different breed.  They are hard headed, dedicated and passionate about what they do.  Due to his new schedule of chasing the pro rodeos, the last few months of school he has had to miss a day or sometimes two every week.  My son does not struggle with school, he is smart.  His grades are good, learning the materials is not what is hard for him, what is hard for him is the format that they learn.  Some kids just are not built to sit in a classroom for that long every day.  I am not saying school is bad, far from it, I believe their education is very important and it is what sets you up in life.  What I am saying is maybe the system does not work for all kids.  I have recently learned from a few other rodeo families that they homeschool because of this.  Their kids were not meant to sit in a classroom, it bores them, and they end up not caring about it in the end.  After lots of reflection this past year it is becoming something I am considering more and more.  

I believed that going to school was good for their social skills and learning team work and how to get along with several different groups of people, BUT, I then realized, by going to these rodeos he is already doing that.  Despite what some teachers think, I truly believe that rodeo gives kids very valuable life skills to prepare them for their adult lives.  Rodeo lifestyle exposes children to situations that will help them to develop the skills to be a productive and well rounded member of society.  They learn physical fitness, safety, good work ethic, self confidence, critical thinking skills and commitment.  All of this coincides with the social skills developed such as leadership, communication, and teamwork.  They learn moral strength, integrity, fortitude, reputation, and work ethic.  They learn how to be physically fit, because to be on the top of your game and perform well your body needs to be fueled for it.  They very much learn how to win and how to lose.  You learn how to push yourself, to work harder to succeed.  They learn that nothing worth having comes without being earned and that they must work hard to achieve the end results that they want. 

They learn community, they have to speak to all kinds of different people in different places.  They learn how to respect their competition.  Rodeo teaches them to push themselves outside of their comfort zone.  To be the best you have to want it, you need to push through your fears, be slightly uncomfortable to make your dreams come true.  They learn the value of money earned, how to save it when to spend it.  I can go on and on about the lessons that rodeo teaches kids.  I can not tell you just how many times I have met new people at the rodeo and they know my son the first thing they tell me is what an incredible young man he is, and how he is growing into such a good young man, or how he is "being raised right".  This makes me smile because as much as I argue and fight with my teenager, I know I must be doing something right for people to notice these things and tell them to me.  

Being a rodeo child, you get the opportunity to travel all across Canada, see these new places, learn about them explore them.  You get opportunities that some never get. These kids are getting experiences that some adults don't even get to do until way later in life.  I recently had a very, passive aggressive message sent to me by the school, about him missing school the last three days of the year.  He is not in the grades they write final exams, his grades are good, to me the year is done.  My son will be moving cows, travelling to three different rodeos and starting his summer.  He is not laying at home in bed playing videos games, he is out learning valuable life lessons.  To me, this was more important than watching movies, cleaning desks and lockers and whatever else they do the last few days before summer break.  I was curious though, I know some families who are taking off for family vacations this last week as well, do they get messages as well? Is it because our values do not line up?  These are my thoughts I am pondering as I write this.  At the end, I want to repeat again, I believe education is important, they need it and it must be done, but you know what, so are life experiences.  As long as my kid keeps up with both I am happy.  If his grades were suffering because of it I might have a different view on this, but his grades are at a place that I am happy with and he is happy with, why is that not enough. 

I could go on and on but I will leave it at that, I am wondering other peoples thoughts on this?  Does anyone else home school? Do you find it better?  Am I wrong for believing my child deserves these experiences in life before its to late?  Let me know!