I have been pondering this for a few days, I do not really like to judge people. I also do not look to make people feel uncomfortable. This is why, I have told very few people that I am homeschooling my son. I told three mums this week and all of them have given me the same reaction. Shock, sympathy and in some ways disgust. One of the mothers basically told me I was crazy to homeschool, stating that she needed time to herself and she would not wish it on her worst enemy to be stuck with a child 24/7. I simply told her, it was best for us at this time. That is all I said because I really do not feel the need to explain myself to people that bare so significance in my life whatsoever. I actually would not have said anything but she asked me what preschool my son goes to. I said he does not go to school, and that I homeschool. The look of shock on her face was priceless.
One other lady said I should consider sending him to private school if I am so against the system. I really did not feel the need to get into a huge debate about the effectiveness of homeschooling or the I effectiveness of going to mainstream school. Why? Because I do not fall into any specific category, I am homeschooling right now because it is what is best for me and my son at this moment in time. That might change in the near future. However, for now we are loving it and enjoying every minute of this journey. I just wonder why people are so damn judgemental, I don't look at people in the street and question why the hell they send their children to school. I also don't shout out in the street that yes I tried private school, it was not the best option for us either. Not every child thrives in a classroom setting with 25 other children there.
Another mum asked me how is my son going to be able to socialise with kids if I isolate him by homeschooling. Again, I did not want to get into some kind of debate, I simply said he goes to drama, football and other activities. In fact my son is so well socialised we barely have time to sit at home and just do "homeschool" as they think we do. We basically do a couple of hours a day and the rest is activities and other fun stuff. I have only been homeschooling for three weeks and we have done so much in such a short space of time. Looking at the work he did in school and the field trips he went on he has done more in three weeks than he has done in four months at school. Some say that school teaches children how to live in the real world. For me school do not teach me this, it taught me to hate education. I only began to like it when I went to university and I was exposed to independent study. I had freedom because we would have two lectures a week, three seminars and the rest was independent study.
I am not trying to get into a debate here as to which way is best. Because some thrive in school, some thrive homeschooling. However, what I would actually prefer would be flexischooling. I asked for this at two schools, private schools and they said no, quite rudely actually. I just think that people should stop judging on both sides of the fence, and enjoy the choices they have made. For me homeschooling offers freedom, more time with my son, it gives my son more opportunity to explore what he likes, and we can travel the world if we want to. My partner is a musician and when he goes on tour we can stop off for a week or so and he gets to spend time with his daddy. Rather than not see him for months on end. I read a tweet that Jaden Smith (Will Smith son) wrote, he said that if all kids were homeschooled the world would be a better place. There was uproar, I think I know what he was trying to say. I think he meant that if all children were homeschooled they might be able to explore their interests at a younger age. Also excel in subjects that they enjoy rather than focus on subjects they do not enjoy at all.
Personally I think that the basics like Maths, English and science based subjects should be taken. However, other subjects could be replaced with something the enjoy doing. For example, my son is really interested in photography. So,he is learning about photography, just the basics but he is still learning and he loves it. I know he would not be learning this if he was at school. He also loves to run, and said he wants to be in the Olympics. I know he is only four and this might change however, at school he only gets to run around for 40 minutes a day. The rest of the time he stuck in a building, which is not great for little ones. Today, he ran around the park in circles for 2 hours, all the Joggers were really impressed. He had a great time! He said he wants to do running every single day. So, I will be taking him. You never know, he might turn out to be the next Usain Bolt!
I don't know why people feel the need to be so judgemental and poke their noses into other people's business like it affects their children I don't know. However, all I know is that homeschooling is the perfect option for my son and I at this moment.
