not back to school

"No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure."
— Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-American anarchist writer, lecturer and activist (1869-1940)

I find that it is very difficult to nod and smile when faced with criticisms regarding our family's choice to homeschool. I'm aware that most conversations having to do with children can be contentious subjects in a diverse crowd. Any of the following topics could turn into a heated debate at the drop of a hat: what pediatrician you use, what you feed your child, how you diaper or don't diaper your children, how you discipline, where your child sleeps, how you choose to educate....all of these can be hot button issues.

My general attitude is to wish everyone well and go with what works for our family. Just because we don't send our children to government or private schools doesn't necessarily mean we are opposed to them.  I don't skydive or eat pickled eggs but it doesn't mean I oppose those things or people who like them. However, when the sensitive subject of children arises it often seems that folks think our choice means we oppose their choice and that is not only false but kind of sad to me.

 

Recently, and this is not the first time someone has uttered these words to me, I was told by a schoolteacher at a playground that our choice to homeschool was hurting the public school system. She said that if we weren't "part of the solution then we were part of the problem". Firstly, that old adage is a logical fallacy known as a false dichotomy. There can be MANY solutions to the ailments our public schools face today and I'm pretty certain that if all the homeschoolers in the USA matriculated their children in the public school system the problems would still be there.

While I'm no expert on public school, I only attended them for 13 years , my gut feeling is that the problems that face our public school system are merely a symptom of the greater ills facing our society. Children are our barometer and they are telling us that  something is wrong. I honestly don't think the schools can just be fixed by more policy changes or reforms. We must change ourselves, change our priorities and change how we perceive the child and what it means to educate a child before we will see mass positive change. How do we do that? 

I really don't know. When I hear folks talking about  NCLB or when I read the words of our mayor and various school board members I get kind of queasy because I hear words like : business, industry,performance, tests, accountability, deficient. I also notice that the government seems to heavily emphasize reading and math. What about science, art, music, history, foreign languages,  and they thousands of unquantifiable  qualities that make up the amazing genius of every child? Do we honor children by speaking about their education as if it were a product of big business or by making it a political war zone?

Do we honor them? Are we putting their greatest needs first?

I'd love to hear the school board and mayor talking about the genius of every child or investigating and reporting on the education methods from other countries. It would be amazing to have a dialogue about how children learn best and honoring and supporting them and their teachers.  Perhaps these things would be possible if our families weren't working so much, struggling to pay the bills and wrestling with the transportation issues and healthcare. Perhaps we could focus on our children and honor them if we honored the well being of all of our citizens over profit. I don't know, it's just a thought.

We have determined that our family is happiest when we are together. We enjoy the freedom of not being beholden to the school schedule. We find that our children are able to learn quite nicely without school. Our choice doesn't mean we oppose schools and it certainly doesn't mean we don't take a deep interest in the health of our community.

We'd also like to think our choice reflects one of the many solutions to changing our world for the good. We live modestly, eat healthy foods,  exercise, spend time outdoors, recycle, try to be conscientious about our use of the earth's resources and we teach our children the value of community service, peace and problem solving. We're just doing our best to make it through life like everyone else, only we're doing it without school.

In closing...no, I don't think we're part of the problem :) 

Photo: Not Back to School Day 2007 

Comments

[lynn]

I hate that! I've heard it too. I'd decided to answer, "As long as you teach/participate in our screwed-up public education, it will never change which means YOU are part of the problem!" but then of course nobody said it to me again so I didn't get to use it.

Try homeschooling one and sending the other to private. school. That there is undenialble proof that you want to kill public schools! It also makes some of the homeschoolers wonder about you :)