Great Weekend Reads
I read a great post over the weekend at The Joyful Journey. It is about the top 10 reasons NOT to homeshool and her rational responses to each. I absolutely love the way she broke down each reason with a simple yet informative response. One of my personal favorites is
“My child is too social, he’ll be bored at home.”
If your child is bored unless he’s socializing, then the worst possible place for him is in a school classroom!!
It’s so true. I think some parents tend to look back at school with rose colored glasses, or they watch too many shows on the Disney channel with their kids. Shows where the students spend a 50 minute class period chatting for 45 minutes.
Another great read I was this weekend was my new book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv
When he gets into schools in chapter 16 it is quite an eye opener. He discusses American education to Finland’s, schools that are embracing a more environmentla approach, and more. There is a great bit about a school in Florida where students use a nearby river to study math, science, language, biology, chemistry, and economics. Something that sounds incredibly like how many homeschoolers I know teach. Getting out there, getting their hands dirty, and seeing the big picture instead of the small pieces broken off into class sized bites. And, well, there’s just something about taking nature walks with kids.
There is one great quote that I have to share.
For more effective education reform, teachers should free kids from the classroom. That’s the message from Gerald Lieberman, director of the State Education and Environmental Roundtable, a national effort to study environment-based education.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
My fondest memories of school weren’t the long, hot days in class. They weren’t the alienation I felt during lunch and recess if I happened to not be able to hang out with my “clique” that day. They weren’t in the evenings, when I’d rather be watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom or being self-taught about damn-building in a tiny runoff behind our house, but instead, had to do hours of homework.
My fondest memories of school were when we went on a field trip to a museum or COSI (Center of Science and Industry), or when my math teacher thought the day was so lovely, that we’d have class under a towering elm, sitting in the soft grass, as the breeze ruffled our notebook pages.
The first set of examples are experiences that happen every day in schools, while the second set of examples are just far too rare - unless you are a homeschooler.
I will be homeschooling my son when he gets older (he’s 2 now). Why? Part of it is to protect him from the “socialization” he can get in school - you know the kind - from drug dealers, to kids pushing him to do the wrong thing, to over-analyzing or uncaring teachers.
But the biggest reasons are because I want my son to have the joy of having an education that consisted of working on his math under a large tree on a perfect, breezy day. I want my son to be able to pursue interests that he wants to learn more about, without being held back. I want my child to be able to enjoy learning.
October 14th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
Thanks so much for visiting my blog and for mentioning my post! I am constantly amazed at the excuses that some people come up with for not homeschooling. Now I recognize that homeschooling is not for everyone, but there are people who COULD and SHOULD homeschool who are stubbornly holding onto silly excuses! A friend recently said that they will homeschool “if it every becomes necessary.” Their son was in a HORRIBLE 2nd grade classroom situation last year…just what, I wonder, will actually make it necessary!
Thanks again for stopping by. I’ve enjoyed your site…
October 14th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
Thank you for sharing that Sky. You are so right, the experiences that I think many children love are far and few between. Being able to enjoy the world around them is one of the great thigns about homeschooling.
November 1st, 2007 at 6:29 am
[...] By Nature? by Summer Minor I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I have been reading Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. I am really enjoying reading this [...]
February 11th, 2008 at 6:01 am
[...] article mentioned “nature deficit disorder”, which comes from a favorite book of mine: Last Child In The Woods. Being able to spend their time outside playing, like children used to do, [...]