Before I had a child, I had a vague mental image of homeschooling: a conscientious mother presiding over a litter of kids poised with pencils and workbooks at the kitchen table. Never in any daydream would I have inserted myself into this Norman Rockwell montage. Certainly not in the role of the mother/teacher.My daughter, Amelie, came along two years ago and turned my head in another direction. She inspired me to question things - like the role of school and conventional ideas about education. My husband, Michael, and I began to wonder whether a traditional school setting was something we wanted for our spirited little girl-child. Would it knock the spirit right out of her?
When I tell people that we're thinking of homeschooling Amelie, I'm quick to say, "It's Michael's idea." As if to say, "He's the crazy one. I'm like you. I'm normal - REALLY!" And it was Michael who began to feed me books about homeschooling, books that smashed my image of the mother and kids around the table - an image that is not only stereotypical but also outdated.
The world of homeschooling, I'm finding, is big, diverse, and infinitely creative. Not just the domain of the fundamentally religious or the radically anarchistic, homeschooling is breaking into the mainstream in a big way. It's flexible and mobile, taking parents and kids away from the kitchen-schoolroom and into the world. I'm starting to realize that it might even be fun.
I haven't decided for sure whether or not homeschooling is for me and my family. But I'm curious. Curious enough to read the books, meet the parents, hang with the kids, join the Yahoo groups, and explore the secret corridors of homeschooling firsthand. This blog will take me there - and you too, if you care to come along for the ride.
homeschooling
4 comments:
This sums up my thinking as well. Happily, I'm also growing to suspect that homeschooling could be big fun.
I've also been looking at information on UNschooling.
Now, you want to talk about CRAZEEE.
Heh.
Can I go to school at your home too? We have friends who pulled their twins from school in the 2nd grade and have been homeschooling happily ever since. You're right - it is a broad and vibrant community from my understanding of things. We lack the time, temperament and resources for home schooling, but I have all the respect in the world for it. And, with you and Michael as her primary educators, Amelie will be well on her way to being the first Pulitzer prize winning poet to establish a yoga space colony. What more could a mother and father hope for? :-) xox
I just read your post on a HS message board and clicked to your blog for a read. We made the choice for our son about 5 years ago (also at age 2) and never looked back.
You'll never be able to gain everyone's approval. There's always going to be something "weird" about our parenting choices. For some people it's cosleeping or extended breastfeeding or vegetarianism--for others, it's homeschooling. I bet your child doesn't watch the American average of 6+ hours of TV a day. I guess that makes you a weirdo, too!
Some main points are: a teacher can never devote as much attention and individualized instruction to your child as you can. Your child can learn much more efficiently outside a classroom. You can follow her lead on her interests, instead of hearing about how she really wanted to learn more about bugs but the bell rang and the teacher had to start teaching math.
Obviously, we exist outside the mold of government education. It helps to read up on its history (I recommend Gatto if you're looking for books) and to know that it's a fairly recent concept.
We follow a child-led learning approach, which means that we provide an environment rich in learning opportunities, watch to see which ones really strike a fancy in our child, and encourage his curiosity with more activities in those areas. It's quite wonderful, on a daily basis.
Best of luck to you, and remember that your family is what matters in this choice, not what others may say or think.
Hey, I just wanted to thank you all for your comments. Mark, I will definitely be exploring unschooling here. Very intriguing. Wendybee, you're always welcome at our homeschool! Tara, I really appreciate your thoughts. Wow, you're really doing it, and the child-led approach sounds wonderful. I've read Gatto's "Dumbing Us Down" and am jazzed to get his big tome about the history of compulsory schooling in this country. Anyway, I'm sure we'll get the chance to talk some more, on the DJ or on our blogs. So glad to virtually meet you.
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