MamaBearTeacher Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 If you are homeschooling do you avoid reading picture books and novels where most of the action takes place in a school setting with your kids? I sometimes do. Today I was reading a non-fiction book to them that addresses the children directly and it said something like "You have been going to school all your life ..." and I had a feeling of guilt and rushed through the paragraph. This has happened before. At first I started homeschooling because it was really the only choice in our situation (my children have special needs) and now I see that it is the best choice in our situation and that my kids can get an amazing education this way ... but ... I still feel that guilt that they will feel left out of an experience that is pretty universal to children in modern times, especially when sentences like the one I quoted come along. I have talked to my children about homeschooling and it is really our only choice and a good choice but still ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Nope. Not an issue. My kids are curious about what goes on in a public school, just like our ps friends are curious about homeschooling. I am curious, though, about why you feel guilty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 No. My kids know that most kids go to school. No big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theYoungerMrsWarde Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 (edited) I recently purchased the Apples-to-Apples Game Family version. I opened one of the 3 packs of nouns/verbs and found that 10% were about school that I would take out because my kids wouldn't relate to. An interesting note: the comment on the "back-to-school-shopping" card was "The only thing good about going back to school" :glare: But considering how negatively kid's books portray schools, I don't see having a problem with them reading them. Edited April 20, 2011 by theYoungerMrsWarde Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 No. My kids know that most kids go to school. No big deal. :iagree: no biggie at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Generally no, but I avoided books that talked about how much fun kindergarten is. For one thing kindergarten isn't really fun anymore and for another thing I didn't want my kids to think they were missing out. My daughter DID go to public school from K through most of third grade (I then pulled her out and homeschooled for the rest of third, all of fourth, and we're wrapping up 5th). In her case, we do not AVOID books about school- but I go out of my way to find books that feature homeschooled characters because I think that it would be fun for her to find characters to relate to now. And in my son's case (he's only 5 and has never been to preschool or public school K), like Wendy said, I avoid books that talk about how much fun K is. Because she's right- it's NOT fun anymore, and I have no intention of sending him, and I, too, don't want him to think he's missing out on some wonderful place. He's not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 No. I figure it is important for them to know what a vast majority of our culture experience. As to the "You've been going to school all your life" sentence, isn't that what our kids are doing too? Just in a different way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 My husband is a school teacher. Our kids know the good, the bad, and the ugly of ps. They read Andrew Clement's books and the vast majority of them are set in ps. They were singing, "I've been burping in the classroom" all afternoon. It is a book that is full of public school type songs that they've checked out from the library five billion times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Wow. A lot of no answers. I kind of do, honestly. I mean, I won't avoid a book just because it includes school as a setting or has the kids in school. Or even shows the kids liking school. That's all fine. But there's this whole genre of picture books where the entire plot is the kid being afraid to go to school and then learning that school is a great place, full of wonderful people and nice teachers! Or the books where the plot really is just about school. And those... well, those I avoid. I don't hide them from the kids or anything, but I don't buy them, check them out or point them out to the kids in any way. They make me feel uncomfortable - in part because I feel like they show something that isn't really truth. They show only the good teachers - if there's a bad teacher, s/he is only there to provide a contrast and highlight that there are good teachers. And they often don't show the family, as if school is the entire life of children, which makes me feel strange vis a vis my own kids since their friends are important to them, but their family is clearly the place where they spend their lives. Daisy, it's funny that you mention those Andrew Clements books because a homeschooling friend and I have this ongoing thing about them. She loves them and has read them aloud to her kids. I won't. But if they found them on their own (I suppose one of my kids could read them now) then that would be fine. I actually had a blog post about this awhile back here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 But there's this whole genre of picture books where the entire plot is the kid being afraid to go to school and then learning that school is a great place, full of wonderful people and nice teachers! Or the books where the plot really is just about school. And those... well, those I avoid. I don't hide them from the kids or anything, but I don't buy them, check them out or point them out to the kids in any way. I love the Mrs. Bindergarten books! But most picture books in that genre aren't really good books. They are formulaic so we did tend to ignore those. Now dd9 reads some school story chapter books but since they tend to be "realistic genre" that would be a big part of most kids' lives. Ds13 rarely reads any books set in a school setting because he's reading mostly classics, sci fi or adult books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Answering the question. Do I avoid? No. Do I feel guilty? No Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Wow. A lot of no answers. I kind of do, honestly. I mean, I won't avoid a book just because it includes school as a setting or has the kids in school. Or even shows the kids liking school. That's all fine. But there's this whole genre of picture books where the entire plot is the kid being afraid to go to school and then learning that school is a great place, full of wonderful people and nice teachers! Or the books where the plot really is just about school. And those... well, those I avoid. I don't hide them from the kids or anything, but I don't buy them, check them out or point them out to the kids in any way. They make me feel uncomfortable - in part because I feel like they show something that isn't really truth. They show only the good teachers - if there's a bad teacher, s/he is only there to provide a contrast and highlight that there are good teachers. And they often don't show the family, as if school is the entire life of children, which makes me feel strange vis a vis my own kids since their friends are important to them, but their family is clearly the place where they spend their lives. Daisy, it's funny that you mention those Andrew Clements books because a homeschooling friend and I have this ongoing thing about them. She loves them and has read them aloud to her kids. I won't. But if they found them on their own (I suppose one of my kids could read them now) then that would be fine. I actually had a blog post about this awhile back here. Who knows if I would have responded differently if my children had different personalities or our life was different. Honestly, much of our life revolves around my husband's job. His school schedule dictates our schedule. We help him clean his classroom and grade papers. We attend events at his school such as the school fair and fundraising activities. So for us, those books are just a laugh. My daughter went to ps for first grade and still has negative associations with it. My son loves his freedom far too much to ever feel the lure of ps. Now that I think of it though, there have been a few books I've avoided with my daughter. Most of them have been for older kids and deal more with the really dark side of girls and ps. Just issues that she has no concept of yet (peer pressure to be sexually active, self-image issues, eating disorders, extreme bullying, etc.). And there have been two homeschool books that I vetoed because they started out gung-ho about homeschooling and then had, "I liked that one year of hs just fine but now I'm going back to REAL life" type endings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janie Grace Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I don't feel guilty exactly, but I know what you mean. There's *something* there for me when I encounter "school" kid books, because I LOVED school. Sometimes I am sad that they don't experience what I loved... show-and-tell, interacting with different teachers, playing with other kids at recess, etc. I absolutely believe homeschooling is right for us, and there are far more upsides to homeschooling than going to school... but there is that twinge sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessReplanted Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Generally no, but I avoided books that talked about how much fun kindergarten is. For one thing kindergarten isn't really fun anymore and for another thing I didn't want my kids to think they were missing out. :iagree: I do. If I think a book or movie was written to make PS look *awesome* then I will avoid it. Thankfully, there aren't too many out there - just a few aimed at kids who are about to enter K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iona Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 i have been avoiding them recently...ds is in k(our first year homeschooling) and most weeks asks to go to "real school" next year. i don't want it to be a hush hush subject...but right now i'm avoiding the topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 No, dd's brothers go to school and even before when I homeschooled them all, all their friends went to school. I never felt guilty about it and they were proud to be homeschooled so it wasn't an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauracolumbus Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I don't feel guilty exactly, but I know what you mean. There's *something* there for me when I encounter "school" kid books, because I LOVED school. Sometimes I am sad that they don't experience what I loved... show-and-tell, interacting with different teachers, playing with other kids at recess, etc. I absolutely believe homeschooling is right for us, and there are far more upsides to homeschooling than going to school... but there is that twinge sometimes. I am the same way. Just a bit of a twinge. And I enjoyed school and so did my older two who went through 1st and 3d grade. They think my youngest should experience a bit of school just so that she can understand so many of the books we read, such as Gooney Bird Greene. My youngest currently has no desire to go to school, so it's not much of an issue, but I do get that twinge when we read about all the fun things about school. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 no. Reading books with a school setting wouldn't make me feel an ounce of guilt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margo out of lurking Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 If you are homeschooling do you avoid reading picture books and novels where most of the action takes place in a school setting with your kids? I sometimes do. For the most part, yes, when they were younger, I avoided books in a school setting. Dd went to ps in K and part of 1st grade. I had a combination of reasons. There weren't any great "school" story books out there (we could live without Bailey School Kids), and I didn't want them to feel they were "missing out." But there were certainly exceptions. The Wheel on the School, The Year of Miss Agnes. I guess I avoided contemporary classrooms. "You have been going to school all your life ..." and I had a feeling of guilt and rushed through the paragraph. This has happened before. No, most kids have not been going to school "all" their lives! And even so, homeschooled kids have been at least "doing" school if not "going"! No guilt here, just gratitude! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RanchGirl Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I don't avoid them, and I don't feel guilty for homeschooling, I really think I'm doing the best thing for them. At great personal cost in terms of $$, my time and my personal space, I might add!! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest momk2000 Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I don't go out of my way to seek them out, but I don't avoid them either. If my kids choose a book at the library and it includes school related issues, I let them sign it out. They have both hs and ps friends, so it really isn't a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColoradoMom Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I don't avoid them and sometimes I look for them. He likes reading about school but he prefers to read about independent kids like Artemis Fowl. He loves Artemis Fowl - and I think he secretly thinks he can be Artemis Fowl! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tricia Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I wouldn't worry about it. It goes both ways. Homeschool kids wonder about ps, and ps kids wonder about homeschool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I admit that I used to avoid those books. Yes, it is because I felt guilty and feared my son would think he was missing out on something. I, myself, wondered if he was missing out on something and I think I didn't want to be reminded of public school like that. I'm pretty much over that now, but I remember how it used to feel and I understand completely why someone would avoid those books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 As others have said, I've avoided picture books that are exclusively about how awesome it is to start school. Now my daughter is reading middle grades novels, and I tend to skip over books that are all about the social milieu of school, playground intrigues, mean girls, bullying, etc. because at her age she just doesn't understand that stuff and isn't ready to read about it. I wouldn't stop her from reading those books when she's older, though. But there's no way I'd pass up reading about Ramona. Or Ivy and Bean. So we do have some school stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 No, not at all. In fact, when my kids read something from a book about school and tell me about it, and it is positive, I often say, "See, wouldn't you like to go to school?" They always yell, "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I don't even feel guilty for asking them if they would like to go to school! They also know I taught public school for 17 years before we homeschooled. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAutumnOak Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 My boys don't want to go to school, so I don't avoid the books...If my boys *did* want to go to school, then I probably would avoid them...It would just bring what they want and can't have to the forefront of their minds and I wouldn't want to do that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 No. I don't avoid them. My kids were in public school last year, so they know what happens at school, and they much prefer homeschooling for now. I don't feel guilty about my choice, and I'm not sure what is making you feel guilty, but I wouldn't let that deter you from reading books that take place in school. Reading broadens your horizons and gives you insight into other people's lives. Millions of kids go to school every day, so your kids can learn something about their lives from books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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