I should have named this post For Sela
Homeschooling No Longer Carries Stigma I have to say most people still look at me like I have four heads to go along with my seven kids when I say that I homeschool. Or they assume I’m a fundamentalist, especially with the amount of children I have. (Not. Have you read any of my stories? Fundamentalist? Moi? *snort*)
Here’s Another Excellent, but older article from the Stanford Alumni Mag I read that one when I want to reassure myself that walking to the beat of this different drummer CAN lead to wonderful places.
“But conviction, more than convenience, is the reason Baruch kept her children at home. At age 16, she vowed that if she ever had kids, their education would differ from hers. Baruch attended a traditional Hebrew yeshiva in Brooklyn. “I was very much excited about learning, but there was not time to just learn for the love of learning,” she says. “There was an hour [for each subject], and when it was up, the bell rang. That was it. Interested, not interested, awake, asleep–you moved on to the next thing.”
Butler, in contrast, has followed his fancy, learning mainly by experience. His mother seized upon daily activities like cooking and gardening as educational opportunities. Butler and his siblings practiced math by dividing recipes in the kitchen; they devoured books on dinosaurs and mammals. Through an afternoon class offered at a local school, Butler got hooked on beekeeping. “
That pretty much sums up the Why and Way we do it here, and it’s a wonderful, smooth stress free way of living.
Which is why I can write. Because I’m not super stressed or over scheduled. Granted, I’ve had to learn to not squander my time, but none of that was because of the kids. (They don’t have access to my e-mail accounts, forums, or get lost on the web and in books in the name of research. Nope. That’s all ME, baby.)
Isn’t it funny when you say homeschooling some people automatically assume you’re a Fundie.
Yay! Thank you, Eva!!
You know, when I first heard about homeschooling years ago, I assumed it was a crunchy granola off-the-grid hippie thing to do. Never occurred to me that the uber-Christians would take over.
I have thought about homeschooling! I think it’s great especially with school systems being the way they are today. It’s really sad that some school don’t even have toilet paper to put in the restrooms for the kids let alone updated text books. However some of my best memories are from events or of people that I met at school. I’m so torn. Great blog by the way.
Thanks Lauren!