We've made the decision to homeschool our children. This isn't a decision I thought I'd ever make. But last fall it was really on my heart to consider it. I thought that for me to make an educated judgement about it, I needed to honestly look into it before writing it off. Well, by Christmas we found ourselves discussing the possibility and praying about the option. By February we made the decision and began researching curriculum and schooling methods and learning as much as we could. Between the decision in February and the time to order curriculum, my heart softened and I not only had great peace about our decision, but I was EXCITED.
In telling family and friends of our decision, we (surprisingly) found more support and encouragement than anything else. I was expecting some raised eyebrows and crazy looks. Not so much. But the main thing that people seem to be SO caught up on is "socialization". Like THAT is the point of education. Geesh. (more on this later)
Anyway, this morning a friend of mine posted these on facebook and I thought they were great. Hope you enjoy!
This was an interesting little poster and I enjoyed looking at it this morning! I have so much to say about this topic, but I'll just stick to one thing: Socialization. I don't think homeschool or public/private, any kind of school have much at all to do with socialization. I've found, that parents and family socialize a person, regardless of how they go to school. Yes, I've come across some kooky homeschoolers in my college years, only to realize that they were just like their parents. I've known some strange school kids, too, and they come from strange families ;-) .
ReplyDeleteI think instead of the socialization argument, a more accurate discussion would be "influence." Who is influencing a child's development and formation? Is it teachers, classmates, kids on the bus? Or, parents, extended family, and playmates of varying ages? I think the influence factor carries much more weight than the socialization one.
And just for good measure, for us, I think we'll always let the kids watch a little bit of tv, be active in sports and other activities based on their interests, and experience diversity. After all, we want them socialized--just not badly influenced :-) .
Very nicely put. That is EXACTLY the right word. "Influence". Perfect. And OH how this word opens up quite the discussion. Do you want to start it or should I? Or maybe we'll just wait to see who gets it out first. No rush on these things. It usually takes me a while to find the right words for such a post.
DeleteHappy Blogging dear friend.
WOO HOO!! I loved homeschooling - working at my own pace, working ahead so Anna and I could do ski club on Fridays, cooking classes, and improv classes with other homeschooling co-ops. I would argue we were better "socialized" than most...we could talk to adults and look them in the eye and hang out with all age groups not just limited to one class age...but I could go on and on ;)
ReplyDeleteBest of Luck!!