homeschool versus public school

A growing number of people I come into contact with are saying no to institutionalized learning facilities and keeping their kids at home and hearth to learn what the government is paying hundred of thousand (millions, billions, etc) of dollars to educated and certified teachers and schools to do; live and understand the world around them.

The idea of homeschool is a firey topic that gets all kinds of peoples' panties in a bunch. The homeschooling *crowd* rants about the sterilization of the mind, the standardization of conformity, and the emotional damage that children are facing in todays classrooms. The public schooling parents are on fire about the socially stunted, educationally lacking hippies and hill fold that are keeping their kids at home and away from real life experiences and the education they deserve. Who's right?

I feel about this like I do about many things; yes. I personally have yet to decide whether or not to homeschool my kids at all, let alone into the later years when more challenging subjects that I feel perhaps incapable of teaching myself arise. The reason is that I don't know how much interaction MY kids could get homeschooling, since we have little money to do trips and classes and clubs and so forth. I also would like to go back to school and have a career in... well, status pending on that decision. I don't see the point in *homeschooling* if I'm not at home schooling.

In my opinion, being a mother is a career choice, but unfortunately it doesn't pay, and in this society it gets harder and harder to live off of love and one income. I do of course question whether or not that is due to an unhealthy attatchment to things and space that is unnecessary for the nurturing and health of a family. But capitalism is a hard habit to kick...

There are some serious reasons why I think that homeschooling is best for the babes, whatever my action and intent my be in the future. Along with that list is my befuddlement at the sheer bullshit reasons why homeschool is NOT okay, given by the majority.

First of all, to be cliche, "each child is a unique and special snowflake, different from every other." Corny? Yes. But it's a fact, and anyways corn is good for your health :D. Every child has a unique set of strengths, "weaknesses", interests, abilities, and learning styles. The public school system is standardized to a fault, leaving children that are ahead of their class so bored and uninterested they become "problems" for the teachers and other students (which in turn gets them into trouble at both school and home, puts them in a category of bad and ill behaved, which damages their self esteem and stunts their ability to learn and grow and be curious, which in turns dulls their senses while simultaneously making them rebellious, which leads to... any number of creative catastrophies). There are also the children that are not ahead of their class, or that have certain learning disabilities or preferances that are out of the ordinary but fo undetected, causing them to fail the regiment presented to them (which in turn gets them into trouble at both home and school, puts them into the category of bad and ill behaved, which in turn dulls their ... well, you get the picture.). Homeschooling allows YOU personally, the person that knows and understands your child best and whom he or she loves and trusts and is open to, to cultivate for them the best possible learning environment for their unique attributes. Their self esteem isn't damaged or challenged by upset or unhappy children and teachers around them, because there is no failure. Their progression can be self led and they can be allowed to chart their own most desireable course for education and learning. This nurtures their desire to learn, rather than simply their ability to fill in the blanks.

That is not to say that a homeschooled child is the master of his or her own world. Parenting doesn't work that way. However, it does respect their individual choice, which makes them feel like people. You know, I think one of the biggest problems with schools and parents alike is this belief that children are not people yet, and need to be taught how to be members of society. We live in a society, and children are parts of it. An adult, a child... they are not seperate things. They are one thing on a different part of their journey through the cycle of life. Parents, mothers, fathers, are there to help the child assert their own place in the world, not to put them in their place. We need to nurture our childen and watch them uncurl. It's insane how much we try to control who our children are. It's wrong, just like pulling open the petals of a flower is the wrong way to make it bloom, and certainly going to damage it's ability to produce it's fruit.

But I'm getting off topic. Another huge homeschool myth that needs to be dispelled is that a homeschool kid is going to be ill socialized. Yeah, because there's nothing better for a sensitive young child that to be left alone with a large mass of strangers to figure out their social skills. Homeschooling moms know that "socialization" is one of the fun and easy parts. Play groups, homeschool feild trips, classes, nature walks, camping trips, lessons, sports, scouts, etc.... There are more ways than I can count on my fingers that homeschooled kids get out. Many more ways than your average publicly educated zombie gets to socialize, and more enjoyable too. Think about it, a kids spends eight hours in a class room or on a play ground on in a lunch room, sitting here, standing there, sitting here again, and repeating the same activities over and over again. The homeschooled child has the ability to break away from unhealthy relationships with peers and to choose the activities they enjoy to fill their days. They can rest when they need to, eat when they're hungry. The child that gets to "learn at home" spends meaningful, educational, and positive moments with people that appreciate them and enjoy their company and have similar interests. And if they don't get along, no need to deal with the stress of bullying or bored forced interaction. You can simply move on to something that better suits your child and family.

I could go on and on, but I really have spent more time on this than I meant too. Hope it makes sense, I'm a suckage writer.

TGIF!!
Dez