Things fall apart

[newlifemom]

I don't know the poem, only remember pieces of Ahube's [sp?] book, but I wonder about homeschooling as a movement and wonder what the next 20 years will bring. There seemed to be a general consenus [in my little uniformed mind of course :tongue_smilie:] that unity was more important than curriculum used or ideas for children's futures or attaching a movement such as quiverful to it.

 

IDK, I have bunch of jumbled thought in my head that I cannot seem to straighten out. Is the homeschool momentum over? Is it to be forever fractured b/c there can be no consensus on what the definition should even be? Should I be worried about people who were once ardent homeschooling Christians and now say it was all a fraud?

 

Or, should I go back to bed for a day and then get up and drink a little coffee and pray I am sane again?:D

 

 

I don't even know the question I am asking. How's that for crazy. I am hoping you wonderfully, diverse ladies, and gentlemen will understand.

[Mejane]

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold..."

 

I think if you define the "centre" as Christian homeschoolers and you see them dropping away, you may feel the movement is disintegrating. What I see is more diversity over time, which in my mind is encouraging. I also think things cycle over time, both with individual homeschoolers and with groups of homeschoolers. So, no, I don't see the movement falling apart; changing maybe, but not falling apart.

 

I hope that made some sense. It did in my head. :D

[Pink Fairy]

I'd be interested in hearing more about the Christians who were once ardent homeschoolers but now say it was all a fraud. I hadn't heard of that!

 

I don't keep track of all the different movements within homeschooling, but I agree with the PP that the definition of homeschooling is expanding. The homeschoolers that I knew 20 years ago and had a very specific ideology are still there, but they've been joined by people from every belief and walk of life. I think there is room for all of us, so I'm not worried.

[newlifemom]

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold..."

 

I think if you define the "centre" as Christian homeschoolers and you see them dropping away, you may feel the movement is disintegrating.

I hope that made some sense. It did in my head. :D

 

Perhaps that is my problem. I'm not sure what you would call me anymore [though I would imagine many who know my irl would. :tongue_smilie:]

 

I come from a very pentacostal/evangelical background. However, as I began to research homeschooling, educational choices, etc, my theological understanding changed. So how I began to homeschool and what I thought was important, along with other quasi theological ideas began to shift.

 

Now, I see this disparity. I have been looking at the centre that way. How should I look at it now though? Is there a center? IDK.

 

 

This is what happens when your dh shatters the back of your car windshield and as a result the eletrical is messed up and it's Sunday and you don't go to church so instead you start reading blogs and end up on people who are no longer:

 

quivering

homeschooling

christian

 

Must get more coffee. :D

[scubamama]

Hmmm, I'm curious. Can you give a link to some "no longer homeschooling" blog?

Thanks,

Michele

[dangermom]

So you've been reading blogs by people who are no longer homeschooling or doing the whole QF package? I wonder if some of those folks, though, were only homeschooling in the first place because they had bought into QF and the whole patriarchal movement. I think you really have to actually want to homeschool, not just do it because someone says you should.

 

And while QF may be great for some folks, I think it can become an overwhelming burden on the woman and I certainly don't think it's the only way to live if you're a Christian. If you burn out on that, I can see that you might be disillusioned with Christianity as well, if you've been told for years that only QFers are Christian at all.

 

I love homeschooling, but if it wasn't my idea and it wasn't what I really wanted to do, it would be dang tough to keep it up.

[newlifemom]

Hmmm, I'm curious. Can you give a link to some "no longer homeschooling" blog?

Thanks,

Michele

 

 

Well, I think I found it from a no longer quivering blog. Again, it does strike me as these things going together and maybe all these years I have tried to put them together even though I am not necessarily any of those.

 

Like I said, too much free time and apparently not enough caffeine to sustain an intelligent conversation. :tongue_smilie:

[hillfarm]

Although religious reasons do figure heavily into why we homeschool, I consider my top priority to be my God-given responsibility to provide a proper and excellent education for my dd, not adherence to any "movement".

 

It is entirely possible that we will take advantage of some or perhaps even all of the community college classes offered to highschoolers in our area. Students who take part in this program can graduate from high school with an hs diploma and a 2yr degree, for very little cost.

 

Another consideration that is now on the radar, but certainly not yet decided, is that dd might possibly attend the local high school vocational school at some point. She thinks she might be interested in computer graphics and commercial art and the vocational school has a wonderful program in this area. My nephew is taking it now and we will be watching closely to see where it leads him.

 

So no, I am not "sold out" to the homeschooling movement. I am sold out to the idea of getting the best, most appropriate education for my dd wherever it may be found. If it continues to be in the homeschooling vein, I would like that, however I am not committed to homeschooling, I am committed to her.

[Renee in NC]

Well, I think I found it from a no longer quivering blog. Again, it does strike me as these things going together and maybe all these years I have tried to put them together even though I am not necessarily any of those.

 

Like I said, too much free time and apparently not enough caffeine to sustain an intelligent conversation. :tongue_smilie:

 

Well, as someone who used to be QF and is phasing out homeschooling (last child will go next year), let me assure you that it isn't quite as bad as those blogs make it out to be. Thankfully, my Christianity isn't tied up in the movement, so I still have that.

 

I don't think homeschooling is a fraud - it didn't work for us, but that doesn't mean it won't work for others. Do I think that QF and hs together put an enormous burden on women? Yes, at times. Do I see weaknesses in homeschooling? Yes, of course. That doesn't make it a fraud, though.

 

I have, over the last several weeks, really reflected on why we homeschooled to begin with. In our situation, given the facts that were true at the time, we probably should not have. I wanted to as a way to keep my bright children from being bored in school (I was *always* bored!) What I didn't count on was dyslexia and ADD (and the combination of the two!) We had to spend so much time on the bare basics that we never seemed to get around to the other things I wanted to do with them. Add to that the financial problems and the massive upheaval of the last few years and I come to the conclusion things would have been better had they been in school all along.

 

Instead of homeschooling, I should have put my now 12yo in K and gone back to school to finish my accounting degree and my Masters. I could have taken the CPA exam shortly thereafter. I would have 5 years of professional experience since my CPA and we wouldn't be broke.:D

 

I am not caught up in that patriarchy mess, either, so it isn't an issue anymore. Yes, it was at one time, but dh and I managed to muddle through it and come out better on the other side.:D

[Hedgehog]

Although religious reasons do figure heavily into why we homeschool, I consider my top priority to be my God-given responsibility to provide a proper and excellent education for my dd, not adherence to any "movement"...

 

..I am not "sold out" to the homeschooling movement. I am sold out to the idea of getting the best, most appropriate education for my dd wherever it may be found. If it continues to be in the homeschooling vein, I would like that, however I am not committed to homeschooling, I am committed to her.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

[Mimm]

I grew up in a QF home and have nothing good to say about that particular movement. And even though there are many things I wish my homeschooling education was, I obviously am not disillusioned with it. Maybe because I saw so many people doing it "right". And in so many different ways. I see homeschooling going more mainstream now and I think it's a good thing. Sure you have bad things that come along with that, like recent threads about non-schoolers, and one woman saying that homeschooling had become so popular in her area that it had many of the social trappings they had thought they left behind in public school. But I would prefer for homeschooling to simply be seen as another choice for educating your children.

 

Personally, I don't really homeschool for religious reasons. More for financial reasons (we needed to stop paying the tuition at their private school). We didn't really consider public school. It's not that it's never ever an option under any circumstances or something like that, but it's certainly something we want to avoid if we possibly can. Maybe that's not the most noble reason to be homeschooling, but who cares? It's working for our family right now. :)

[LibraryLover]

What is your question? That there might not be one way to live a life and raise a family? If that is your question...you are right. :)

 

And. Looking to the center... maybe you've been drinking the classical education koolaid, you ancient Greek philosopher, you.

 

I don't think that makes you a Pagan, btw. ;)

Edited November 15, 2010 by LibraryLover

[Liza Q]

Although religious reasons do figure heavily into why we homeschool, I consider my top priority to be my God-given responsibility to provide a proper and excellent education for my dd, not adherence to any "movement".

 

....I am not "sold out" to the homeschooling movement. I am sold out to the idea of getting the best, most appropriate education for my dd wherever it may be found. If it continues to be in the homeschooling vein, I would like that, however I am not committed to homeschooling, I am committed to her.

 

YES!!! :iagree: Well said.

[justasque]

I think it may be that what you thought was the center, never was. Maybe you've just been expanding your awareness of the wide diversity that has always been a part of the homeschooling movement?

 

I've been hsing for several years longer than you. Even way back when, I knew homeschoolers who were Christian (of many flavors) and homeschoolers who weren't, homeschoolers who were home birthers and those who weren't, homeschoolers who were on the wealthier side and those who were struggling financially, homeschoolers with many children and those with few, homeschoolers who used bc and those who didn't, homeschoolers who were Republican, Democrat, and various third parties, homeschoolers who complied with my state's homeschool law and those who didn't (for various reasons), homeschoolers who used "school in a box" and homeschoolers who didn't use any formal curriculum at all. I knew homeschoolers who read John Holt and Growing Without Schooling and had never heard of Mary Pride et. al., and homeschoolers who read Mary Pride and had never heard of GWS or Holt.

 

I've known families who have homeschooled all their children, or just some; for K-12, or for just a few years; who have also used public school, and/or private school, and/or cyber school, and/or part-time school of one flavor or another.

 

Some homeschool for religious reasons, but that's usually not the whole picture. Some homeschool because of their dc's special interests (dance, ice skating) or special needs (Aspberger's), but again, not the whole picture. Some homeschool because private school for 3 or 4 kids gets expensive, and mom can re-create that at home for a lot less.

 

Even back in the day, homeschoolers were talking about the homeschooling movement, and that which unites us vs. that which divides us. Our diversity makes us strange bedfellows sometimes, but I think it's also our strength, as it helps us gather insight from so many different people's experiences as we educate our kids and nurture our families.

 

Bottom line, we have lots of choices to make as parents. We can learn a lot from various "movements", but in the end we have to make the choices that are right for our children at any given time, which may or may not be "what everyone else is doing". I like to read widely, as I find little bits of helpfulness in all kinds of diverse places, even when I don't agree with (or even strongly disagree with) the overall approach being advocated. Any time someone is telling me "you have to do it this way or all is lost", I tend to back away. The most important thing I have learned about parenting is that kids are not all the same, so we cannot parent them all the same. A good education for every child is not the same thing as the *same* education for every child. Ditto for a child's upbringing.

 

I once read an article about parenting that said that every day parents must make about 700 decisions, and we'll make 300 of them wrong, but we keep moving along as best we can, learning as we go. A bit of a silly exaggeration, of course, but that seemed about right to me.

[BMW]

I agree... that homeschooling should be about your children and your options. The failings in my personal journey that included homeschool had nothing to do with homeschool at all. It was a marriage failure. It was failure to connect with others because I was isolated by a controlling patriarch who refused to help with children (QF also) or around the house. If I ever had a struggle, I knew I would hear "Priorities. Just list the priorities and get busy!"

 

But I absolutely believe in homeschooling. I believe parents who use teamwork... who can take a book like The Well Trained Mind and books like Edith Schaeffer's "Family"... get inspired and make quality choices for their children... can offer those children the very best opportunities.

 

I don't believe that there is a one size fits all for homeschool. I do, however, believe in quality teaching and progress in learning. I believe in excellence. I believe in fun. I believe in love.

 

Anyway... my .02