After I posted a post (kind of a redundant phrase, eh?) to Twitter Moms, specifically the Mom’s of Special Needs Kids group, announcing my new unit study about dogs which went up yesterday, I received this reply from a commenter:
Nostalchick said:
Valid points made about the factory mentality of the education "system" but, what about the benefits of mainstreaming? As a mother of an HFA 9 yr old, I will tell you that the mainstream has helped him be prepared for the real world. I’ve always kind of thought that homeschooling avoids it.
There are good teachers out there and if you do your homework as a parent, you can implement specific things in your child’s IEP which is their right.
I’m just saying, we can boo hoo our schools but, it’s the world we live in and they must be prepared for that. Other great programs out there will show them other sides as well. Sports, art classes, music… all serve to teach us and our kids who they are.
Julie- CA.
Evidently she was talking about yesterday’s post which included some quotes from Seth Godin’s book, Purple Cow. Anyway, here was my reply on Twitter Moms:
Mainstreaming. Hmmmm…. I’ve never been a big fan of the mainstream. Yes, kids grow up and have to live in the real world. But is school anything like the real world? I don’t think so. Maybe in some ways it resembles the corporate world, but that’s a whole new issue.
I don’t mean to demonize the entire educational system. And it seems to work moderately well for some kids. Personally, the amazing difference in my ADD brother-in-law since starting homeschooling, both academically and socially is enough for me. And I’ve seen this in other ADD kids, too.
Any thoughts from our subscribers or visitors? (Click on the title of this post and then scroll down to the Comment box to let us know your thoughts.)
3 Comments, Comment or Ping
I started homeschooling my two children this year after each had spent some time in public school. My son, who is a fourth-grader this year, has been dealing with inattention issues since preschool. The hardest thing for me to get him to understand is it is okay to make mistakes- in school he was admonished for being inattentive and “had he been paying attention” he would have gotten this right. In turn, he feels like a complete failure if he gets an answer wrong. He was always seated with other “problem” children who talk and act out in the classroom, which in turn would distract him to no end. Since we started homeschooling, his sense of self is much better and his confidence is improving.
I wish I would have homeschooled him sooner.
January 28th, 2009
I’m so glad you decided to homeschool him. Everything you just said sounds so much like what we experienced with Steven. People can have lots of different ideas about homeschooling, but it’s the results that truly answer the question of what is better.
January 28th, 2009
I’m posting this for one of our subscribers who e-mailed the comment to me:
Why is it that being at home with your family, living and learning with your siblings and parents, is considered not the real world, but going into an artifically age segregated classroom with a preset agenda about what you are required to learn is considered the real world?
If kids are allowed to bloom in their own way without arbitrary pressure to conform, they have a better chance of maturing in a much healthier way. Peer pressure is minimized, real values are absorbed through the loving bonds of family; time is allowed for so many things: enough sleep, time to pursue passions, no dealing with bullies, drugs, bad teachers, etc. Homeschooling can be 100 times more wholesome than dealing with school.
I am a homeschooling Mom of 5. My oldest is 18 and just got accepted into the college of her choice. She’s been homeschooled since second grade. She is friends with some public school kids. She tells me things like, “Mom did you know a doctor told so and so not to sleep with any boys from the high school? They’ve all got Herpes!” Or,” Mom parents should really stop giving kids Ritilin, it seems like everybody sells it to other kids who don’t need to take it!.” This is what she hears from her friends! And this is nice high school in a rich and highly regard school system. To me, it sounds more like a war zone! My daughter is so much better socialized, more responsible and mature than so many of these kids (now there are lots of lovely kids in public high schools, but there are many, many, many who are really troubled and lost). It sounds like I’m bragging (and maybe I am a bit!) but I truly think that when you homeschool you don’t have to fight the system to maintain parent-child bonding and general enthusiasm about life. My daughter did not have to fight the bleak world of fitting in, being popular, getting the grades, the whole degradation of just being treated like a cog in the wheel. I think she is better prepared for dealing with the real world than many of her peers. In fact, I know she is!
I think people should worry less about ‘preparing’ children for the real world. It will come soon enough. Instead we should focus on loving them, encouraging their wonder and curiousity about the world, connecting to them through a myriad of discussions about all the things that go on in life. When they are old enough they will take the real world by storm!
Blessings,
Faith
January 28th, 2009
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