They Call the Wind Mariah

March 05, 2004 : 9:16 a.m.
There is a Reason Home School Sounds Like Home's Cool

I am back (again) to trying to convince my husband that homeschooling our daugther is the right option for us as a family.

A lot of people don't understand homeschooling. At all. The big "S" question prevails. "What about socialization??". That question makes me laugh - seriously.

Sitting in a classroom filled with the same 30 students day in and day out is socialization? Homeschooled children, at least the majority of them, participate in a variety of activities - both homeschool related and not - and socialize with people of varying ages, religious backgrounds, and ethnicities.

And when in life, after public school that is, do you ONLY socialize with people your own age? In your career, and in your life, you must interact with people older and younger than you on a daily basis. Homeschooled children get this kind of socialization from the start.

And wasn't M's teacher just telling me at our last Parent-Teacher conference that M is "too social". What is that, in a society so worried about socialization, someone is TOO social?? She talks to her friends in class. Where I agree this is a slight distraction**, the basic rule then would be that the kids DON'T get to socialize in public school right? Except maybe at recess, where socialization comes in the form of playing with your select group of friends, ignoring the rest, and getting bullied by a little boy that is supposedly just "trying to show his affection". Well, if name-calling and pushing is his way of showing he likes her, let him keep his fucking affection to himself then, okay?

**On the distraction subject, while yes, I agree, talking in class might pose as a distraction for the distractor and likely everyone else, what about the other distractions from school kids face these days? Hell, I faced them in school and I haven't been in school for nearly 9 years. Things like drugs, violence, bullies, sex, etc. And don't tell me those aren't distractions. Don't tell me kids don't worry/think about those things while they should be listening to the teacher. They were distractions when I was in high school...now they're distractions for 3rd graders.

It's a scary world out there. And I've only barely touched on the surface of why I want to homeschool. Part 2 coming soon, I assure you :)