Look at this selfish kid selfishly enjoying learning about physics outside a classroom. How rude.
I've heard a lot of objections to the practice of homeschooling or unschooling, and I'd like to address one here:
the idea that it's selfish to keep your kids out of the public school system. (Of course, people can — and do — say this to parents who choose private or alternative schools as well.)
At face value, this is a nice, guilt-inducing train of thought for those of us
who believe quite avidly in offering public schooling to society at large but who, for whatever reason, do not want our children participating in it. But let's break it down to explore what it's really saying, and the questionable thinking behind these seven popular myths.
Myth #1: If all the good parents abandon public schooling, public schooling can't improve.
Ok, I see what people are saying here. We home educators, it is thought, are the passionate, idea-driven ones. We're also, prima facie, the ones with time on our hands. Shouldn't we be driving the revolution?
Well, here are a few problems with that line of thinking, right off the top of my head. One:
It's racist and classist. Oh, yeah, I said it. How come homeschoolers are the "good" parents in this argument? Does this make people who
do use the public school system the "bad" parents? Because, um, that's
almost all the parents. And I have to imagine that very few of them are bad. More on racism in a bit, but you can see where classism fits in: Working parents are much more likely to send their kids to schools than families with one or more stay-at-home parents. Are all working parents morally inferior for doing so? Of course not. And even the people making that argument know that, because for the most part, they're people who are sending (or intending to send) their kids to public schools.
Kablooey! Oops, we blew up your whole structure of education. Our bad.
Secondly, this argument trashes public schools. I'm not in the business of saying public schools are bad, just that formalized education
itself has many problems. I see where people might be confused by my argument here, but let me elucidate. I went to public schools, kindergarten through high school. I had mostly wonderful teachers, and I got a good education. I'm actually against the whole
philosophy of cookie-cutter, factory-inspired education. Not individual public schools, not individual teachers — the whole idea of it all. How on earth can I "improve" public schools? I want to take a sledgehammer to the concept of schooling. Do I wish kids were tested less and had more recess? Oh, yes. But that's just scraping the surface. And more on that later, as well.
Also?
Homeschooled students make up something like 2.9% of the U.S. school-age population. Big, flipping deal. I can't emphasize enough:
Most children are going to public schools. This will always be true. How is our rebellious 2.9% funneled back into schools going to fundamentally change things? Answer: It won't. (And more on that later, too.)
Plus, and I have mixed feelings about this, most homeschoolers are
white, middle class, financially well off, and religiously fervent. You know where people like that send their kids when homeschooling's not an option? Private schools.
Dionna of Code Name: Mama has written a touching post at
SortaCrunchy about empathizing and offering comfort to our children, at every age.
Bonus? You can
sample another poem from my book,
Poetry of a Hobo Mama: The First Three Years
:
"How to love one whose heart is breaking."
Please
go to SortaCrunchy to share in Dionna's post about
honoring a child's newfound fear of the dark, and then head over to
my giveaway post to
win one of SEVEN copies of my poetry book!
When you are a young man
and your heart is first broken,
…
Will we cut you off
from our exalted positions?
We who know of all the greater heartache
that is to come.
Read more »
This is a group giveaway with Hobo Mama, Living Peacefully With Children, Authentic Parenting, Up, Down & Natural, Code Name: Mama, Positive Parenting Connection, and I Thought I Knew Mama. I'm cross-posting it here on Hobo Mama Reviews as well. Please enter at one site only. Find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory entry and optional bonus entries.
In honor of April's National Poetry Month, I am so pleased to offer a giveaway of
SEVEN copies of my poetry book,
Poetry of a Hobo Mama: The First Three Years. Each copy retails for $11.99, so the combined value of this giveaway is
$72!
Poetry of a Hobo Mama is a collection of poems inspired by the initial three years of parenting my firstborn son, Mikko.
About the book
I sling my baby like a bindle on my back,
tramping along the tracks
countless feet have worn before.
Poetry of a Hobo Mama contains
three years' worth of parenting poetry, written from the time my husband, Sam, and I were preparing for Mikko, through watching him grow to three years old. I've intentionally included poems that speak of our
natural parenting journey — breastfeeding, the family bed, elimination communication, and natural birth among them.
The book is a combination of free verse and more traditional poetry forms, and the topics and tone run through all the variations I felt when writing them: the grief of miscarriage, the anticipation of trying to conceive, the upheaval of the newborn months, the joy of parenting, and the balance of motherhood with personal passion.
 |
Walking along the beach.
How I want to feel. |
Welcome to the Sunday Surf, a tour of the
best blogposts I've read throughout the week.
I know this is posting super late. For no good reason, I've been feeling pretty ragged the last few days. Well, there's working on taxes, and spending long hours inefficiently running errands with both kids alone, and my computer acting up because it thinks I have too many windows open, but nothing dramatic. I then stayed up till 4 a.m. working on some bloggy stuff and therefore told myself I really needed a day I could just stay in bed with my jammies on and the blankets over my head.
And then I remembered I still hadn't put up Sunday Surf. And I was planning to garden today. And prepare my post for tomorrow, too. And finish up taxes. And spend hours playing with my kids. (That last one actually happened.)
So you know? A couple hours ago, I slipped away upstairs … and pulled the covers over my head. I'm not even apologizing, just proclaiming.
Sometimes you need a day where you never get out of your jammies and do nothing you thought you were going to.
Quick and dirty and belated, some reading for you:
One take on breastfeeding-education-related language.
And a rejoinder at Parenting Myths, Parenting Facts:
Read both, and let me know what you think.
A call to action: Write Google to have them celebrate World Breastfeeding Week along with us. Love
Joni Rae’s Google doodle!
Congrats to them both: This article was picked up by the Huffington Post.
The connection between communicating with our babies now and how that will play out when they’re older.
In light of the examples she shares, I do just want to point out that we can never know what circumstances surround the one snippet we happen to witness in a stranger’s life, but I’ll take this as my own reminder to be aware of what my children are trying to say to me, today.
Fabulous birth activists retreat in support of midwifery at The Farm in Tennessee this June 22-24 (where Ina May Gaskin attends births). Only $100 + camping/dorm fees.
Very helpful tips and resource suggestions on helping a change-averse preschooler handle moving house.
This short film will bring a smile to your face. Take 10 minutes to watch and enjoy when you need a pick-me-up (like on one of those blanket-over-the-head days):
9-year-old's DIY cardboard arcade
Caine's Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.
It's so unschooling!
Poetry of a Hobo Mama:
I'm so excited — tomorrow I'm posting a
group giveaway for SEVEN COPIES of my poetry book, along with reviews from
six fabulous bloggers. Squee! Stay tuned, and enter to win.
You can also check out the
five 5-star reviews I now have on Amazon! Yea!
From LaurenWayne.com:
Links to share, from
Writing Tidbits.
Gmail Tap for Android
I just have to share one of Google's videos this year.
I'm Lauren Wayne, writer and natural parent. I embrace attached parenting with an emphasis toward green living. 
