Why we decided to homeschool: Part Three
Over Christmas Mike and I started talking more and more about homeschooling. I was a little nervous about it. After all, I was expecting our eighth child and well, would we be able to do it with so many children? What about GCSE’s and exams? Where would I have the time to research and prepare for so many, knowing how long it took when there was only Stephanie alone being homeschooled.
But then, we had set a lot of the groundwork when we were first thinking of taking Stephanie out of school. We already knew about homeschooling rights in the UK, about various organisations for support and information, and I even knew that as the main educator I personally preferred to have some kind of routine as opposed to going with the flow of autonomous education.
It seemed that removing Stephanie from the system had been the rehearsal for something bigger in the future, except we didn’t know it at the time.
Socialisation wasn’t an issue even though it’s one of, if not the first question people tend to ask. Real life socialisation is about mixing with different people of different ages in different environments. How many of us only mix with people the same age as us? It’s not about being stuck in a room six hours a day with thirty other people the same age as you in an environment where you aren’t supposed to chit-chat and play in anyway.
Even playtimes have gone all PC and Health and Safety mad. You can’t play British Bulldog or Tag any more. Even chasing and running games are out. What else are the children expected to do in a school for 4-11 year olds? Where is the socialisation there? Yet this is where a lot of concern lies for many!
Socialisation is about helping out with the church at the summer fete, it’s about learning dressmaking with a kind neighbour, it’s about another kind neighbour providing the opportunity to ride horses, or joining a sports club. Caitlin joined up with the Brownies and began Irish Dancing, and Harry joined up with the Beavers.
Those provide more socialisation than a classroom, and it’s real life socialisation at that.
You can read the rest of the series of posts here:
Why we decided to homeschool: Part One
Hi Tania, gosh I admire your courage and dedication to your kids, I really wish I had the courage to take my kids out of school, its a big more complex for us with my husband being a teacher and all. I think about it all the time and I am seriously thinking of homeschooling my son with DS for highschool as the options here are terrible IMO. I love your blog, and will be checking in on you regularly, Found you at SITS….I'm lovin that site and all that are members.
Hugs
I get tons of beat around the bush hints about socialization and at first I felt like I needed to explain myself.
"But they'll be in sports and taking lessons at the Y. And they play with their cousins. And I'm signing Big Boy up for scouts. And…and…and.."
But then I felt like I would be justifying it to myself as well. So I've decided to just avoid the conversation and hopefully over time they will all see through our actions and everyday life that the boys will be socialized just fine.
Just dropping by from SITS to leave some comment love! ♥
I love reading about homeschooling families (especially those who take the time to explain what affected their decision) because it's something that my husband and I have been contemplating for our own children, once they're school-aged.
Thank you for sharing your family's journey!
Thanks for visiting my blog. You were right it was the 80's, but I am the little girl with the pink pants. 🙂