Homeschooling 2009 - Classic Questions Answered
Saturday, August 8, 2009 at 8:28AM As we prepare for the new school year to begin (well, maybe you...here at theMangoTimes, school does not begin until we are well into September...), I thought it might be good to readdress old questions that I have answered over the years.
Lately, it seems like I've had a large number of folks asking again about our decision to homeschool. Nothing new...the same old questions. Old posts often get buried in the archives of theMT, so I thought I would highlight a few of them here:
What About Socialization? This is the king of all questions that homeschoolers are asked. I did my best to answer it here.
Aren't you sheltering your kids? - A close runner-up...and mostly from those within the church. I've found that most people are afraid to actually voice this question (but you know they are thinking it...).
Are you sending your kids to high school? - or the real question is..."When are you going to give them a real education?" Check out the post, but also look at my response to Freda in the comments section.
Bonus Post:
My Favorite Homeschool Business - pop on over to the Ding Family blog for a good laugh!
Quietly Making Noise,
Fletch
Reader Comments (5)
Thank you for this post! I appreciate your well-thought-out answers and I certainly agree that homeschooling has many advantages. I was moved to comment on some of the tone that I did pick up that I think can happen when anyone is passionate about something and I don't feel its necessarily constructive. I know that the piece was meant to persuade, and to do that you sometimes have to pick apart other's choices. Like you said in the last sentence in one of the articles, you allow that there could be some non-homeschoolers who are good kids, and there can be some issues with homeschooling also. I just felt that a lot of the language used was overly demeaning. For example, you could have stated that you appreciate that homeschooling allows for a customized approach rather than that other schools give "cattle-like" treatment. Maybe there are some that do, but I really don't think that is fair. I guess overall, I appreciate the post, but its one of those cases, where to build yourself up, I don't think you necessary have to stomp over others quite so much. I personally thought this clip was helpful. Again, I do appreciate the post and maybe it was just me that took the tone in the wrong way. I am sorry if I did.
http://www.joshharris.com/2008/05/gospel_unity_among_educational.php
Jean,
Thanks for dropping by theMangoTimes. I always appreciate new visitors that take the time to comment!
Yes I've seen that piece by Josh Harris and I think his request was valid...I agree that educational philosophies can destroy a church and not just homeschool vs. private vs. public school. Have you ever been around a group of homeschoolers that think their style is best! Sheesh! Talk about tearing each other apart...
Since I linked to three of my previous postings, I'm not sure which one (or maybe all of them?) sounded like I was demeaning. Let me clarify:
1. When it comes to educational choices, I see it as a good/better/best issue. In today's world, I think homeschooling is the BEST option. Good friends and family have chosen other educational plans...some are good and some are better...but I still land with the home environment being best!
2. Truth be told...in order to prove a point theMT will often use ridiculous humor or absurdity and within reason I try to provide a bunch of room for people with differing opinions along the way (except when they leave uninformed comments...then I find it easy to lean toward flippancy). I realize I may lose a few sensitive readers along the way and thus lose my message. Overall, I try and make theMT a "snapshot into the life of one God fearing, Christ loving, wife smooching, chicken chasing, dog loving, wine drinking, schwinn cruising, vw driving, jimmy buffett listening, tooth grinning dentist and homeschooling dad!"
Thanks for the nice reply! - and I can totally relate to the style comment - We don't do classical ourselves, but I really like what it has to offer - now if only there were 100 hours in the day so that everyone could do two or three stlyes:)
Ok, first of all, you are hilarious! I read Kendra's blog all the time, even though I only have a 2 year old and 1 year old. My husband I take our oldest into church with us, doing "preschool" at home, and we are planning on homeschooling, and we are already getting these crazy comments, mostly from Christians and family. I love your responses. We believe it is God's will for our family, but it is always nice to hear how someone else explains these decisions to the crtics. Thanks for your writings. I still can't say how funny you are.....love jimmy buffet too:)
Thanks again,
Debra
Debra...Thanks for coming by theMT...all the best to you as you homeschool those little ones!
Fletch