Interesting article on homeschooling...

[kristavws]

Someone posted this on a local list I am part of, and I thought it was interesting.

For the record, the author of the article obviously was not following my family around in the grocery store "There's no begging for gimcracks, no fretting, and no threats from mom. The older watch the younger, freeing mom to go peacefully about her task. " :D

http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=274594&pub=1&div=Opinion

Krista

[Holly IN]

ha ha

I know what you mean. They weren't following my family either because they bicker, whine and fight all the time. :glare::leaving:

I really wish my kids would just get along. sigh!!

Holly

ETA: I liked the article though. I just don't agree that all homeschool families are like what they are describing as far as the no begging, fretting type of behaviors. A few are like that but majority of them are not. Everything else I agree with the article.

[Alenee]

Yep, other than that one line, it fairly represented me. Though I can say it definitely doesn't represent the "whole" of homeschooling parents. This board is a good example.

[Mandy in TN]

While I personally disagree with this being the norm for hs families, I do think that this is the image that many mainstream families have in their minds as the stereotypical homeschool family. I also agree with the author for the motivation (the us and them mentality) of the mainstream family to lash out against the homeschool community. Well, that and the homeschool horror stories that seem to pop up as headline news. :(

Instead of disagreeing over which set-up is ideal, I just wish everyone could agree to make the best choices possible for their family.

Mandy

[Renee in FL]

They weren't following us, either:

Freshly scrubbed boys with neatly trimmed hair and girls with braids, in clean but unfashionable clothes follow mom through the store as she fills her no-frills shopping list.


My oldest (15) has long hair and several piercings.

My 10yo has longish hair.

My 7yo has longest hair of all.

My 5yo has a mohawk.

They are boys.:D

[True Blue]

I wish more people "got" us homeschoolers. We aren't that different than other people. We value family and education - probably to an extreme but we're really, really NORMAL.

My definition would be a family that values education and family togetherness. We enjoy being together except once a quarter when mom needs everyone to just LEAVE.

We have fun and accept each other and encourage our kids to be kind and loving to each other and THEMSELVES. It's okay to be quirky or unique as long as you don't impose on other people with it (ADHD, LDs etc.).

We share our beliefs and values with our family. Some are Prostestant, others are Catholic, then there are the other HUNDREDS of religions out there.

We don't all have long hair (at least the women & girls). We don't all dress from the 1800's - although it is fun sometimes to pretend to be Laura and Mary. Some families are very fashion concious and other of us are very functional -- if it's CLEAN we'll wear it.

Please, don't label or stereotype, even if you're for us. We are as varied and different from each other as we are similar to the AVERAGE citizen. We walk among everyday people and they do not stop, point, and shriek, "Look at the homeschoolers." They don't. We don't even have to wear baseball caps and sunglasses to hide it.

And we don't all bake bread. My 2nd bread machine is gathering dust like the first I gave away. There's not a membership form, a code of conduct, or a secret handshake. We are just individiual people and families making a CHOICE to homeschool because it's what works best for our family.

VENT OVER