Take 3
See what giving up Facebook has done- now I've gone and posted 3 times in 3 days! Unheard of!
Or, you know, not...
Anyway, homeschooling.
Homeschooling is wonderful. It's the brightest part of my day these days. I unapologetically love it. I understand arguments that kids need socialization and while I think that it's true that children need to be able to interact with other children and they need the fun that play with other kids provides, I think most of the socialization argument is hogwash. Children are not and have never been the primary means by which societal norms are transferred. They can't be- they're still learning them. It's in interactions with adults that kids learn what it means to be a human being, and most importantly, an adult. They'll (hopefully) be adults much longer than they'll be children and the limited contact with a variety of adults that most kids get today makes me a bit nervous. One of my major goals with my own kids is to avoid the horrible condition of "adult-alescence" which I see sweeping our culture. No, growing up is not a terrible burden. No, adulthood is not a condition to be avoided at all costs. Yes, putting away childish things when one is no longer a child is a positive attribute. No, a 40 year old man saying "Oh, don't call me Mr. Jones, that's my father." is not cute or witty or cool. A 40 year old should be able to wear a title as smoothly as he wears a suit. Which he should also be able to do.
Opinions! I have lots. Normally I STFU about them and I think it would probably be wise to do that now.
Anyway, homeschooling is a delight and a joy and is not difficult at all. I have a very relaxed style, though, which is suited to my own configuration of kids and parent and would probably not be good for anyone else. Exposition on it would probably not be helpful to anyone, except to say that a classroom need not be duplicated at home. Learning is an organic process and doesn't need to be forced on anyone. Workbooks with their endless pages of fill-in-the-blank sentences and vocabulary crossword puzzles are likely spawned in Hell. Math excluded.
I've never gotten any flack for homeschooling, even though in my church you can't swing an NEA tote-bag without hitting a schoolteacher or administrator. Maybe I exude an aire of "leave me the hell alone about it" or something.
But homeschooling is much, much more controversial in child mental health and autism circles. It's so controversial that at the autism program Jonah gets his therapy through, the staff can't even discuss it at meetings- they argue too much about it. Some think it's the worst possible educational option for an autistic kid. Others think it's the best. I think it could be awesome and could be terrible, depending on the family system in place. Apples don't fall far from trees and a dysfunctional kid being homeschooled by dysfunctional parents and not provided with outside opportunities to integrate into a community would indeed be sub-optimal. But my dysfunction is such that I think it'll be ok. I'm open to alternative views; I'd actually been hoping to get a vehemently anti-homeschooling therapist so I could explore schooling options with someone who would know how to get the school to provide a reasonable accommodation, but so far no dice. Everyone has been appropriately neutral, except the inpatient facility Jonah was in 2 years ago. They were so vehement that he not go back to a school setting that they were working on a long-term admission to a day hospital as an alternative even though his issues really don't warrant anything so restrictive. Thanks, but no thanks.
So, homeschooling=good. Public schooling=good. The cat that pulled the plug on the computer when I was about halfway done this missive= bad.
Next time: Ben's butt!
Or, you know, not...
Anyway, homeschooling.
Homeschooling is wonderful. It's the brightest part of my day these days. I unapologetically love it. I understand arguments that kids need socialization and while I think that it's true that children need to be able to interact with other children and they need the fun that play with other kids provides, I think most of the socialization argument is hogwash. Children are not and have never been the primary means by which societal norms are transferred. They can't be- they're still learning them. It's in interactions with adults that kids learn what it means to be a human being, and most importantly, an adult. They'll (hopefully) be adults much longer than they'll be children and the limited contact with a variety of adults that most kids get today makes me a bit nervous. One of my major goals with my own kids is to avoid the horrible condition of "adult-alescence" which I see sweeping our culture. No, growing up is not a terrible burden. No, adulthood is not a condition to be avoided at all costs. Yes, putting away childish things when one is no longer a child is a positive attribute. No, a 40 year old man saying "Oh, don't call me Mr. Jones, that's my father." is not cute or witty or cool. A 40 year old should be able to wear a title as smoothly as he wears a suit. Which he should also be able to do.
Opinions! I have lots. Normally I STFU about them and I think it would probably be wise to do that now.
Anyway, homeschooling is a delight and a joy and is not difficult at all. I have a very relaxed style, though, which is suited to my own configuration of kids and parent and would probably not be good for anyone else. Exposition on it would probably not be helpful to anyone, except to say that a classroom need not be duplicated at home. Learning is an organic process and doesn't need to be forced on anyone. Workbooks with their endless pages of fill-in-the-blank sentences and vocabulary crossword puzzles are likely spawned in Hell. Math excluded.
I've never gotten any flack for homeschooling, even though in my church you can't swing an NEA tote-bag without hitting a schoolteacher or administrator. Maybe I exude an aire of "leave me the hell alone about it" or something.
But homeschooling is much, much more controversial in child mental health and autism circles. It's so controversial that at the autism program Jonah gets his therapy through, the staff can't even discuss it at meetings- they argue too much about it. Some think it's the worst possible educational option for an autistic kid. Others think it's the best. I think it could be awesome and could be terrible, depending on the family system in place. Apples don't fall far from trees and a dysfunctional kid being homeschooled by dysfunctional parents and not provided with outside opportunities to integrate into a community would indeed be sub-optimal. But my dysfunction is such that I think it'll be ok. I'm open to alternative views; I'd actually been hoping to get a vehemently anti-homeschooling therapist so I could explore schooling options with someone who would know how to get the school to provide a reasonable accommodation, but so far no dice. Everyone has been appropriately neutral, except the inpatient facility Jonah was in 2 years ago. They were so vehement that he not go back to a school setting that they were working on a long-term admission to a day hospital as an alternative even though his issues really don't warrant anything so restrictive. Thanks, but no thanks.
So, homeschooling=good. Public schooling=good. The cat that pulled the plug on the computer when I was about halfway done this missive= bad.
Next time: Ben's butt!