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Check out my blog post on the dreaded S word


NanceXToo
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I couldn't agree more with your blog on this! Well done! My son was much more interested in making friends with the 22 other kids in his first-grade class than in a worksheet. He hates worksheets!

 

And we had the same thing happen: recess taken away as punishment, leaving him zero social/play time. It was misery for all of us.

 

I wouldn't change a thing. We love homeschooling!

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I really liked it overall. I thought the way you used pictures of all kinds of events--often showing kids of different ages interacting--was superb. I also loved the quotes at the end; well-chosen. And the text was engaging and well-argued. One slight quibble was your opening and using the term "locked up" to describe public schooled kids; it just seemed a bit strong. Many kids I know enjoy school and it works well for their families. In general, I prefer blogs that show homeschool kids are at no disadvantage to public schooled kids--it's another viable option--rather than those that argue homeschooling is superior. (Even if, in this case, I actually agree with you that when it comes to socialization, HSing is an advantage!). I think in the rest of the post you accomplished this more even-handed tone admirably, but worry that the opening with that strong word choice would turn off some readers, so that instead of opening minds to new possibilities, you'll end up only 'preaching to the choir'.

 

Hope that doesn't offend. I genuinely enjoyed your post and loved, loved, loved the way you used pics to back up your words. I haven't seen that done before. Thank you so much for sharing.

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Nicely done. I love how your pictures made your point for you. :001_smile:

 

I'm going to have to see if we've got any kind of archery class nearby. My boys would *flip*!

 

We didn't actually have an archery class near us- we asked the dads in our homeschool group if there were any hobbies or interests they'd be willing to share with the kids in our group. It was up to them how casual or formal it was, if it was a one time thing or an ongoing thing, if it was related to their job or their hobbies, and so on. We lucked out that that particular dad (who is an environmental scientist) hosts that class at his house from time to time where he teaches them about bows and arrows, helps them all (even the preschoolers) shoot at a target with a child-sized bow, and takes them on a nature walk to look for animal signs and so on. It's a really neat opportunity and the kids have fun with it!

 

I love how you weaved the pictures through the post. I also tried to leave a comment and wasn't able to.

 

I'm sorry you guys are having trouble leaving comments! I'm not sure why that would happen. If you are able to let me know exactly what happened when you tried, I can email livejournal's tech support about it and see what they have to say.

 

I really liked it overall. I thought the way you used pictures of all kinds of events--often showing kids of different ages interacting--was superb. I also loved the quotes at the end; well-chosen. And the text was engaging and well-argued. One slight quibble was your opening and using the term "locked up" to describe public schooled kids; it just seemed a bit strong. Many kids I know enjoy school and it works well for their families. In general, I prefer blogs that show homeschool kids are at no disadvantage to public schooled kids--it's another viable option--rather than those that argue homeschooling is superior. (Even if, in this case, I actually agree with you that when it comes to socialization, HSing is an advantage!). I think in the rest of the post you accomplished this more even-handed tone admirably, but worry that the opening with that strong word choice would turn off some readers, so that instead of opening minds to new possibilities, you'll end up only 'preaching to the choir'.

 

Hope that doesn't offend. I genuinely enjoyed your post and loved, loved, loved the way you used pics to back up your words. I haven't seen that done before. Thank you so much for sharing.

 

Not offended at all! In fact, I have changed the wording in those sections already based on your feedback. I appreciate it and I see your point! :)

 

You know, Nance, you were one of my favorites on ITNO and still are for your well-thought out posts. Thanks for another smile. :001_smile: I hope you don't mind if I share this with our group here. We've got some newbies that are worrying about the socialization issue.

 

Oh my goodness, I didn't know there was anyone here from ITNO!! Did you use the same name there? And no, I don't mind if you share the post, I appreciate that you want to do so!

 

Thank you, everyone else, for your comments here, it was really nice hearing back about it from so many of you!

 

And if this doesn't come across as too self-serving or anything, if you guys enjoyed the "What About Socialization?" post, you might also like the "What Does A Homeschooler Do Every Day?" post I made a while back which also incorporates the same style of text with pictures weaved through it to make a point:

 

http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/175611.html

 

Thanks again for taking the time to read my rambling, all! :)

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Oh my goodness, I didn't know there was anyone here from ITNO!! Did you use the same name there? And no, I don't mind if you share the post, I appreciate that you want to do so!

 

 

 

:lol: I only went by the first half there. It's alright, I left quite a bit ago when I was still on the island.

 

And thanks! I sent it off to our group for their afternoon smile today. :001_smile:

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I think this is great!. The only thing I would edit if I wrote this is the "probably hampers" statement-too inflammatory and argumentative. Light needs to be shed on the fact that this "artificial set of circumstances" has ramifications for what "norms", "values", "behaviors" and "social skills" are learned there (let alone what the child learns and/or internalizes about him or herself while there) which would illustrate how counter-productive it can be.

 

Great job and thanks for sharing.

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I think this is great!. The only thing I would edit if I wrote this is the "probably hampers" statement-too inflammatory and argumentative. Light needs to be shed on the fact that this "artificial set of circumstances" has ramifications for what "norms", "values", "behaviors" and "social skills" are learned there (let alone what the child learns and/or internalizes about him or herself while there) which would illustrate how counter-productive it can be.

 

Great job and thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks for your feedback!

 

Would you prefer "restricts their ability to..." rather than "probably hampers their ability to..." ?

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Thanks for your feedback!

 

Would you prefer "restricts their ability to..." rather than "probably hampers their ability to..." ?

 

Oh! I did not mean to change it. Yikes-As the author I respect your creative rights. I only meant that I think that many parents of institutionally educated children would say that sending their child to school does not hamper (or restrict) their ability to integrate into society as evidenced by the vast majority of people who have not been homeschooled and who have learned the norms, values,... etc and are integrated into society.

 

I think the real issue is how damaging the cloistering of same age peers for long periods of time can be to the attainment of appropriate norms, values, behaviors, and social skills". I do not think the issue is opportunities to socialize with a wide variety of people. Just as many non-homeschooled kids have swim teachers, sport coaches, take Judo and art-classes and experience the real world. I believe there has been a steady decline in the quality of integration into society due to this cloistering. But it is such a slow deterioration that is too obscure to be seen and recognized. A book recommended on this forum awhile back Why Parents Need to Hold on to Their Kids (title may be off) talks about this.

 

You asked for feedback so I wrote only because I thought it was so good that it should be in a parenting magazine (of course with me being the editor in chief;))

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I think you are right on! I really think that socialization is just a word that antihomeschoolers made up to make parents think they can't homeschool. I went to PS throughout and was definitely socialized and it was not a good thing!!! Be careful though, I posted a link to my blog about socialization and got majorly (and anonymously flamed).

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Thanks again, all! I really appreciate the feedback and nice comments. :) Kristinannie, that stinks! My blog comments are 'screened' and have to be approved but hopefully it won't come up. I guess some people are just really against homeschooling in general and look for opportunities to trash it, unfortunately. I'm glad I haven't encountered any of that in my real life, even though I see it online sometimes!

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