Utterly Meaningless

If I had a nickel for every frickin’ “mom and kids at the kitchen table shot” that’s ever run …

I’m thinking of starting a “just say no” campaign for homeschoolers approached by the media. Instead of going along, ask “Why do you want to write about homeschooling? Where’s the news angle? What’s different now than it was five years ago?”

I’m getting cranky as I age.

Forget the headline, how about the math? sheesh!

C’mon, this is pretty good stuff. Addressed the ‘S’ word, ex-teacher participant and even a “government schools” jab for good measure. I’m suprised that made it in.

Yeah, I know, Eric. It’s not this piece in particular that bothers me, except insofar as the picture furthers the whole “stuck at the table” stereotype. It’s just that the sooner they stop writing about us as if we’re another species, the sooner we really will be a mainstream educational alternative. When’s the last time you saw a piece about private school kids?

Tim,this is the bit that makes me grumpy:

We control who they socialize with.

and this bit:

..we’re training our children to be adults

and this bit:

Homeschool curriculum can be costly..

and this bit:

The thing the homeschoolers have to guard against most is maintaining the time to stay at home and hitting the books.

How about:

“Our kids socialise easily with other kids because they have the time to do so. You don’t need a curriculum, we follow the path our children’s needs take us down. We don’t hit the books because there are so many more relevant ways to learn. Oh, and most importantly of all, we let our children be children for as long as they want They will have all their lives to be adults, let’s let them enjoy their childhood while they can.”

You think you are grumpy….(Don’t say this too loudly but I am starting to think school at home can be almost as bad as school at school)

We did say no, to ESPN. The story is here
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Interesting thought, Mike. I’ve actually been thinking of dropping the term “homeschooling” for the British “home education” in my own speech — a small effort to disrupt my listeners’ default mental association of school with education.

Chris: I remember that entry. Do you still agree with your decision at the time?

Tim,

Yes. When we watched the show we would have been on – there was a shot of one of the families eating dinner – and I commented to Michelle that they probably spent 45 minutes getting that shot…and if it had been us she would been throwing dinnerware at the camera crew at about minute 12!

But then, I don’t feel the need to justify my decision. When people I don’t know ask if the kids are ready to go back to school or other such comments, I just say yes. Our HS’ing is on a need to know basis 🙂