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Encouragment for the Weary (weary of criticism, that is!) by Tamara Glascock |
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Anyone out there have family or friends who still give you a hard time about not having your children in 'real' school? Let's see a show of hands, please! Ahhh, yes! Well, I do, too. Do they sometimes make you question your decision to home school? Do you ever think maybe they are right and you are just being 'weird'? Me, too.
So, how do we deal with it? I, personally, have learned to stick my fingers in my ears and run from the room, screaming, "Schools are evil!" Maybe a bit dramatic, but hey, it at least gets a laugh and effectively ends the conversation. Lately, though, I have began to wonder if maybe there isn't a better answer for this topic of conversation. I have come up with several suggestions, so I'm just gonna throw them all out there and see what you all think. My first idea was to start carrying around a briefcase with samples of my childrens' work, survey results that show how well home schooled children do, a resume of my credentials, plus several photos of my children playing with others to prove that they are actually socialized on occasion. It would, I think prove my point, but any of the above items could be faked. Then, I thought, if I carry some unused workbooks so that my children could do them in front of witnesses, on demand, maybe that would stop it. I considered making silly faces at anyone who makes a negative comment about my home schooling, but that wouldn't help with my mom...she just makes them back and keeps talking. I considered telling everyone who criticizes me that I have finally enrolled my children in school. I'd be okay unless they asked the name of the school. Of course, I could tell them something like, "The Non-Conformists school of Mother-Led Teaching", but even that sounds a little fishy. I thought about answering the comment, "Don't you think you would be much happier if you got rid of your kids for 8 hours a day?" with, "Oh, but I do! It means giving up my coat closet for 7 or 8 hours a day, and buying lots of duct tape, but, it REALLY works great!" And the social services worker, who, by the way, recently visited my home in response to an 'anonymous' call from a lady down the street who told them, "Her kids are NEVER in school. I think you better check that family out!" I considered telling him, "The voices in my head told me public schools are the devil's lair!", but I didn't figure he would appreciate the humor of it. Instead, I simply said, "I home school". To which he promptly replied, "Okay, have a great day", and quickly drove away. If only the others were so easily deterred.... I've also toyed with the idea of telling everyone who criticizes home schooling that I"m not really home schooling. I'm really conducting science experiments with my children's brains and a public school is not a proper setting for kids who are brain experimentation subjects. I really liked this one until I realized that it would backfire on me because most public schools are perfect of examples of brain-experiments-on-children gone bad. Alright! So none of these are particularly great ideas. Okay, here's a good one (I think). Let's just pat them all on the head and pretend to agree with them. Or agree to disagree. After all, you know why you decided to home school, right? You know you are capable, right? You know your kids aren't suffering, right? See, I know it's frustrating when someone you care about tells you that you are hurting your children by home schooling, but I also know the incredible feeling of pride when I see the home schooled results in my children. I love to see them grasp a concept and run with it. So, when it seems that the whole world is telling you that your decision to home school was the wrong one, trust yourself. Know that you are doing what is best for your children. Most importantly, though, know that there are thousands of us out here who support and encourage you. © 2002 Tamara Glascock. All rights reserved. Re-printed with permission. |
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