I have always been bloody minded. I remember reading a star sign description about myself (Aquarius) sceptically. It said "when every one else decides to save the whale, you will find a more obscure thing to save because of your inherent need to be different." Or some twaddle like that.
There is some truth though. I have always been a bit odd. When I told my best friend of many, many years that I was taking my kids out of school, she didn't bat a lash. She told me I had been acting normal for far too long and of course I was going to home educate. Seems she knew me better than I knew myself.
Anyway, back to being bloody minded. When I took my children out of school I planned to follow a structure and thought I would at some point be buying a curriculum. Then along came THE REVIEW. I became aware of others who were not at all keen that I should actually be given the opportunity to chose a curriculum, let alone follow the autonomous path.
Of course, this means that I have been allowing more and more autonomy to sneak in to our daily life. The kids are choosing what they want to do. There are still limits because otherwise EB would have blown up MB by now, but overall they get to choose.
What has this meant in real and practical terms? Yesterday we met up with other home educators at a local park for three hours. The kids played, made dens in the leaves and climbed up fallen trees. All the while they were watched enviously by a large group of uniform clad children being led on an educational tour.
Today we went to the farm, and learnt first hand why you shouldn't eat strawberries when they are still white, what a recently drained pond feels like when you put your hands in it, and how to make a den in a hedgerow.
Later, we came home and the rain that had threatened to burst out of the clouds all day finally did. OD took a drink and some biscuits and her current read "The Super Science Book" into the tree house, to listen to the rain and have some quiet time. The boys made a slide out of the sofa cushions and made up ever more challenging quiz questions for each other "If you were an octopus, would you like having 8 legs? If you were going to get trapped, where would it be? You get the idea!) Before bed we all watched an episode of "South Pacific".
It's been a great couple of days, and I want it to continue. Which is why I hope the powers that be will look further than the published results of this review, and remember that there are real people living real and very full lives at the heart of all of this.
3 comments:
I think there's hope. Because if the wish is TRULY to ensure an effective education is ongoing (which is currently the case or should be) then all of the above which you have described can totally be presented as such.
I'm also a bit bloody minded and odd, in that I insist on being optimistic while still being realistic about human nature. 'Hope for the best and expect the worst' is my motto (ripped from Maya Angelou)
People seem to be siteing american and Scotland as better models, when many states in america have ennoying ristrictions such as hour counting and scotland ( i belive I'm right in saying) statory annual visits and portfolio submission, the idea of which I THINK is some of what people are complaining about... in all, it's all getting rather confused from my viewpoint!
I'm imagining a little bureaucratic dance you are expected to perform to prove the viability or your home educating and then a relief to have that over with so you can get back to the real home educating stuff.
Just wanted to reply to your question. Yes, I think she did...it was addressed with colourful stickers to make up the name, I'm I remembering right? Sorry I should have let you know...We've had visitors from Canada and I think my H got sidetracked in the excitement of that. I'll ask her tonight and she if she wants to reply. TTFN
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