Book Review ~ Love in a Time of Homeschooling ~ The rest of the book

Her experience with homeschooling seems very different then mine. Maybe it was because they knew it was only for one year. Also because she still had two children in public school her family didn't enjoy the same amount of flexibility that most homeschool families enjoy. At first it seemed as if what they were really doing was "school at home" although toward the end they did seem to grasp the freedom homeschooling allows and the creativity that can spring from it. I actually found the rest of the book slow going and didn't enjoy it as much as the first few chapters.

One of her comments that did resonant with me.

Parenthood always involves an awareness of judgment; when children misbehave or don't do their schoolwork, all eyes fall upon the parents especially the mother. And if that mother is a homeschooler, she is doubly accountable for her children's success or failure.

One of the hardest things about homeschooling is the constant criticism from non-homeschoolers who know nothing about homeschooling, your family or what is involved in homeschooling but take great delight in telling you, you are destroying your child. Then get all "put upon" if you dare to mention some of the problems in the public schools their children attend, assuming they even have kids.

I also agree that children need to spend more times outdoors and that nature is calming. I tried to incorporate as much outside time as possible into our homeschooling. For further reading on this subject Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. She also brings up how public schools have lowered their standards to allow more time for test preparation.

She acknowledges the diversity of homeschool families, and admits that some children even ASK to be homeschooled. One of the things she seems to have enjoyed the most was how homeschooling allowed her to fill in the gaps of her own education. A shortcoming she found with short term homeschooling was that it didn't give them enough time to decide what they truly valued in education.

A comment by Julia that hit home

"Homeschooling is better, because you get to feel that you are remotely in control of your own education. And the the scenery changes: in school, I'm stuck in the same building for seven hours every day."