There’s More Than Just Up And Down
It seems there are very few stereotypes of home education for us to get labeled. If we’re not all abusive, crazy parents hiding our children from the sun then we are over baring parents forcing our kids to memorize how to spell words out of medical text books. It’s either neglect or pressure that the kids have to suffer. The middle ground isn’t often mentioned in the news.That’s why I got such a kick out of Kim’s post about being “over homeschooling”
But may I ask why you feel the need to take the overachiever angle? Don’t you think you might be raising expectations a bit high as you step on our heads to reach the summit? Do you really think people like to hear about how brilliant you are? Don’t you know they snicker about you behind your back? ‘Oh, homeschooling is soooo superior. Homeschooling is in the gifted program. Homeschooling can spell onomatopoeia backwards!’ What about that time you told me it was okay if we didn’t have the times tables sealed up this year? You said everyone can go at their own pace, that was what was so great about you, you said. Reaching your own potential and all that bs.
What would a week without home education in the news look like? Well it would be pretty boring around this blog, we’re not doing anything around here worth writing about. But it might give some people room to breath again without feeling expectations looming over their head. If your 7 year old can’t read classic myths in Latin then you must not be a very good home educating parent, or you’re one of those abusive ones.
Dana has another take on what home education becoming popular means.
Is that all bad? What did a small band of anti-institutionalists bring to American education? Popularity certainly comes with a price, but it brings with it something else that I think is important to not overlook. It brought with it choice. A real choice for many Americans. Not only do we have public schools and private schools, but now we have charter schools and magnet schools. We have virtual charters and other means of attaining an accredited education at home in many states. We have cottage schools and homeschool coops. And we have support groups across the nation. Even Ravenna, Nebraska with its 1300 citizens boasts a homeschool group.
The press, even if it comes in terms we don’t like, is still press for home education. Is that what they say, there’s no such thing as bad press? Parents who might not have thought about it before are being turned on to home education more and more.
And if nothing else, being sold as super-geniuses beats being associated with incest and child abuse. Isn’t that what we usually get, finger pointing and accusations of abuse? There was a time when this “fringe movement” rarely got press, and all of that was hopelessly negative. Now if only we can get more middle of the road acknowledgment.
April 28th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
I can see the headlines:
Normal people homeschooling!
April 28th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
I think this is why more people DON’T homeschool … they fear they “can’t do it,” because they think “doing it” is that homeschool kid winning the national spelling bee championship!
I remember one of our first h-school activities with a group. Went to a nursing home. Every child was encouraged to do something to bring a smile to the residents. My kids made bookmarks, ALL by themselves. They were crazy looking, falling apart … and wonderful. We got there, and this five year old starts walking among the residents playing classical violin.
I remember thinking, “Holy crap! I can’t do this!!”
Yes, on average homeschoolers perform above average. Yet, most are just amazingly average in their uniquenesses.
Did that make sense?