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Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Home education? What's all that about then?
Yesterday, when Tim was busy hacking his way through the jungle that is our back garden, this was discovered:
A bird's nest - a pigeon's nest to be more precise (we saw them nesting in there but never discovered where the nest was exactly until Tim unearthed it). A work of art it isn't, in fact, it's fair to say it's a positive shambles as far as nests go! The kids thoroughly enjoyed examining it though, and it gripped their attention for a fair old while.
On a Monday morning. When, in the distance, we could hear the other kids outside in the school playground.
So, this is home education is it? Rummaging around in the garden, happening on old pigeon's nests and spending the rest of the morning examing them?
Well, for us, yes and no.
We don't spend EVERY day doing stuff like that, we DO have a timetable (of sorts), we DO have certain times when the kids have to sit down, concentrate and work. Yes, we have textbooks, workbooks, lapbooks - expectations.
In short, we don't unschool. I'm not knocking unschooling - I just know it doesn't work for us. We have, once slipped into unschooling when I was in the early stages of pregnancy with April and I was vomiting every hour, on the hour and in no fit state to do ANYTHING much. Initially, it was fun for Rosie .... "woohooo! I can do whatever I like ALL the time!" However, the novelty wore off pretty quick - she found she actually missed our lesson time together, missed doing the lapbooks or working through her workbooks. It was nice to get back to our usual routine when I was well enough.
Home education is what works for YOUR family - that is where school fails - one size does not fit all. What works for one kid does not work for another. Unschooling works for some and not for others. It doesn't work for us so we "do lessons".
Our lessons bear so very little resemblance to the sort you'd find in a school though - that's why our kids enjoy their work and why Rosie, at nearly 12, hasn't lost her love of learning or enthusiasm for it.
Show me a school where ....
* you work in a warm, comfortable room where gorgeous scented, beeswax candles are burning and the open windows let in a gentle waft of fresh air regularly (instead of stale, school air) and you can get up, get a drink, go to the toilet or even take a complete break whenever you like without having to ask first.
* you finish lessons early enough in the day to allow you to spend the rest of the day choosing your own activities.
* you're not forced out into a cold, windy concrete playground for "a break" and (if you want to) can stay tucked up indoors with a warm drink and a good book (or, yes, a computer game or the telly)
* you can choose your own social experiences based on your likes/dislikes (as we, as adults, do) instead of having to choose your friends from a pre-selected group of individuals - by virtue of birthdate.
* you can enjoy healthy, enriching activities like gardening, cooking, music and art regularly instead of in one hour segments once a week (if at all!)
* you can say "I'm not in the mood for this today" without fear of reprimand or de-merits or detentions or being labelled a "trouble maker".
* you can choose your life path, stick to it, be encouraged in it and work towards it (as Rosie has) instead of being told "I'd forget that if I were you, you're not just suited to it" - put off, left demoralised (as I was)
There is NO school standing that offers all of this.
That is why we home educate. Yes, we have "formal" lessons but the work is individualised to each of our children and, thus, they are happy to learn. However, for us, home education is more than just the textbooks that we might use .....
For us, home education is all of this:
Oh, and exploring a bird's nest on a Monday morning when everyone else
is at school 
Categories: Homeschooling
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