"bringing you the sort of insights smart people enjoy"
• You were homeschooled? - Jan. 20, 2007
I was homeschooled from K-12th grade. I'm very proud of the fact, but it's not something that comes up with every person I know. Somehow, though, the topic of highschool memories comes up and I usually make some quip like, "my highschool football team won every game it ever played."
When I get the bizaare stares I grin and say, "I was homeschooled."
This usually meets with confused and bizaare stares. These turn to uncomfortable stares and people usually don't know what to say. I might has well have said I grew up in a cult or I'm a direct descendant of Jesus. It's amusing to me, but sad too. As time goes on, more and more people seem to embrace the idea of homeschooling as a part of culture. And yet, there's still that element of "freak" associated with being homeschooled.
It's not something I mind horribly. In addition to being a homeschooler, I'm a bit of a geek, so "freak" is something I'm used to being labeled as. I'm not sure why though. Is it simply because I was taught by my parents rather than in a classroom of my peers? Do we judge people based on their abnormality to ourselves?
It's strange, but I think it's more uncomfortableness than judgment that people have. When they find out they're not sure what to say. There's no common ground for conversation. The only real option they have is to ask questions or change the subject.
I don't mind their uncomfortableness, I'm happy to be a real example of what a product of homeschooling looks like - rather than the sterotype. It does bother me sometimes, but in the end I'm proud of my past.
A: First, mom checks three books on electricity out of the library, then the kids make models of light bulbs, read a biography of Thomas Edison and do a skit based on his life.
Next, everyone studies the history of lighting methods, wrapping up with dipping their own candles.
Next, everyone takes a trip to the store where they compare types of light bulbs as well as prices and figure out how much change they'll get if they buy two bulbs for $1.99 and pay with a five dollar bill.
On the way home, a discussion develops over the history of money and also
Abraham Lincoln, as his picture is on the five dollar bill.
Finally, after building a homemade ladder out of branches dragged from the woods, the light bulb is installed.
• Finally Homeschoolers are being courted by Colleges - Oct. 6, 2006
You want the best and the brightest? Find a homeschooler. Now, I realize that's a gross generalization, but I just have that prejudice. Apparently the college community is catching on to this fact. According to an article by the Associated Press colleges covet home-schooled students.
I just like the fact that colleges are courting homeschoolers. I had to jump through extra rings because of my homeschool education. While most of the students only had to take the SAT, I had to take the SAT and ACT tests for the college of my choice. My mother also had to send my grades and extra paperwork. I didn't feel it was fair.
Now, according to this article, "After years of skepticism, even mistrust, many college officials now
realize it's in their best interest to seek out home-schoolers, said
Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American
Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers."
By
home schooling, you don't have to worry about heavy backpacks, bad
lunches and separation anxiety. But the lack of social interactions
could pose a problem. The solution: Meet with other home schoolers in
your neighborhood and set up activities, Brown advises. Overall, "I
think home schoolers do great," she says. "More hours with parents, one
on one with the child."
Now, why is this important? Because it means that homeschooling is becoming more of a norm than a sideshow attraction. The very fact that someone from the American Academy of Pediatrics is giving word space to homeschoolers is huge. Now, granted, Dr. Brown is playing off the one sterotype I, and many other other homeschoolers, hate, but still, it's pretty signficiant.
Blogging is my only addiction. Well, blogging and new books. I was homeschooled from K-12. I have an overactive imagination, read a page a minute and type 75 wmp. I've worked with kids since I was 13 and love writing about education issues. I'm an unpaid intern with MINDspriting. I steal paperclips to make up for the lack of a check.
