Unvaccinated, Homeschooled, and TV-Free: It's Not Just for Fanatics and Zealots
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Click here to read chapter excerpts.
Homeschool
An eternal question about children is, how should we educate them? Politicians and educators consider more school days in a year, more science and math, the use of computers and other technology in the classroom, more exams and tests, more certification for teachers, and less money for art. All of these responses come from the place where we want to make the child into the best adult possible, not in the ancient Greek sense of virtuous and wise, but in the sense of one who is an efficient part of the machinery of society. But on all these counts, soul is neglected. Thomas Moore
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Below are a few paragraphs from various parts of this section:
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If you would have asked me in my 20s or 30s if I would ever consider homeschooling my children I would have wondered how I could possibly know someone who would ask me such an inane question. As far back as I can remember, I have thought and said things like "children should be in school year-round", "children have way too much free time on their hands", "we are falling behind the rest of the world in education - children need longer school days and much more homework", "the best schools are the ones with the most stringent rules", "why are schools wasting time on gym, playtime and art classes when they could be using the time for more math and science".
Why wouldn't I have thought those things? As a child, I was a very obedient student who usually got top grades. I went on to get a Bachelor's degree, two master's degrees and a Ph.D. Formal education is a way of life for me. And, by most measures, I could be considered successful or even very successful.
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As a young adult, I didn't question the importance of school. After all, I had a successful career; I was financially successful and socially successful. When I saw children acting like......well......children......I would shake my head and mutter, "shouldn't they be in school", or "apparently, they don't have enough homework to keep them busy". If I never had children, I would probably still be thinking this way today. There wouldn't likely have been any life-changing event to make me question my views.
When I was pregnant with Genevieve, I started looking into "the best schools" in my area; the schools with the longest days, the schools that started teaching calculus before the other schools did, the schools that had year-round schedules, the schools where the children had to be able to read prior to entering kindergarten. There was no question about it - I had the means and the ability so my daughter was going to get the best education available.
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Whenever someone asks me why I'm homeschooling my daughter, I'm at a complete loss for words. I can either give a vague, one-sentence answer, or I can ask the person to take the next week off of work and we'll go sit in a coffee shop for the week while I explain my reasons. I usually opt for the first choice because most people who ask don't really want to know. Many people, who ask the question, are feeling defensive. Because I've chosen to homeschool must mean that I am negatively judging them for sending their kids to school. And, they ask me for my reasons because they want to discredit them in their own minds, thereby confirming their own choices. But, I really don't care what other people are doing with their kids. My mind is solely focused on my own daughter and my choices for her. I allow everyone else the freedom to do the same and arrive at their own decisions.
There are so many reasons why I decided to homeschool Genevieve and I'm only presenting my top 10 reasons here. Of the top 10 reasons I'm homeschooling, not one of them has anything to do with what is taught in schools, and not one of them has anything to do with religious views, political views, school violence or accelerating the learning process. I mention this because whenever I state that I'm homeschooling, people say things like "Ohhhhhhh.......I didn't realize you were SO religious" (which I'm not), or "I heard more people are homeschooling these days because of all the school shootings and violence", or "what school subjects do you disagree with", or "are you sure you want Genevieve to get that far ahead of other kids her age - won't she feel different?"
There seem to be commonly held assumptions around the reasons why people homeschool. None of them have anything to do with my top 10 reasons or my top 20 reasons, for that matter. And, on top of that, I'm not a survivalist with a stock-pile of weapons, I'm not a farmer, and we don't live on a commune (and I have no intention of sewing Genevieve denim jumpers in a variety of colors).
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