"Homeschooled," new photo essay book to be published first in Europe, then US--positive view of homeschooling!

Laurie4b · January 18, 2016

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/17/health/cnnphotos-homeschooled-children-new-york/index.html

Edited January 18, 2016 by Laurie4b

Mimm · January 18, 2016

I saw that article a while ago and thought it was kind of weird. Positive yes, but also doesn't show much diversity among homeschoolers. I'd hate for people, especially people who aren't familiar with homeschooling, to think that in order to homeschool, they have to move to the country in a log cabin with buffalo.

Gil · January 18, 2016

That is nice, but seems extremely nichey. I don't know if those pictures were representative of all the home schooolers that she met and photographed in New York or just a few families in her sample. That isn't a particularly well written article so it is hard to tell.

TechWife · January 18, 2016

Nice pictures. Those children look a little depressed or lonely or something. I wonder if these shots are representative of the photos in the book?

MercyA · January 18, 2016

Cool, but it looks like the photographer is going for artsiness rather than a truly representative sample. :001_smile:

MEmama · January 18, 2016

Mmmmm, I find it's hard enough to explain homeschooling without these stereotypes being constantly reinforced.

But then we don't live in a log cabin or have a farm and my kid isn't artsy or particularly interested in nature. Perhaps its us that doesn't fit the mold, but I kinda don't think so.

January 18, 2016

I admit it kind of annoys me. I can't identify with much of anything in those pictures as a homeschooler myself. We aren't Waldorf or Montessori enough apparently. We just do fairly academically rigorous and traditional school at home as a family for a few hours each day and get on with life.

Samm · January 18, 2016

Languidly listening for a pulse on patio furniture covered for the winter?

It certainly doesn't make it look like hs'ers have a lot of deliverables does it?

snowbeltmom · January 18, 2016

Mmmmm, I find it's hard enough to explain homeschooling without these stereotypes being constantly reinforced.

But then we don't live in a log cabin or have a farm and my kid isn't artsy or particularly interested in nature. Perhaps its us that doesn't fit the mold, but I kinda don't think so.

I agree. These types of articles annoy me, but I can't really explain why I have such a negative reaction to them.

I don't understand how these photos represent homeschoolers. What is so remarkable about watching squirrels or practicing a musical instrument? Don't most kids, regardless of how they are educated, do these things? Why do many of these articles seem to act like homeschoolers spend their time in nature or working on a farm?

GinaPagnato · January 18, 2016

Er....I'm just imagining what the photo essay of our homeschooling would look like.

* co-op classrooms full of kids - some wearing floodsy pants, some wearing Taylor Swift t-shirts

* an artfully discarded headset for listening to on-line classes (complete with scotch tape holding pieces of the plastic together because mom didn't want to buy another freakin' set)

* dishes on the table (because apparently there is a waitress on premises)

* SAT vocab flashcards

* highlighters and pencils strewn about

* sticky pads with library book titles to check-out

* multiple half-finished coffee cups

* chemistry and algebra textbooks balancing precariously on the edge of a bookshelf

* various works of literature with underlining and notes in the margin

* three Spanish-English dictionaries (don't ask)

* two copies of The Well-Trained Mind, probably with teeth marks on the binding

* a lazy dog licking himself (animals! nature!)

* a middle-aged woman who sits looking wistfully through a window...or else she's internally panicking at how much schoolwork is left to be covered today before sports and scouts this evening

I'm thinking this would not be a best-seller. :lol:

SparklyUnicorn · January 18, 2016

I saw that article a while ago and thought it was kind of weird. Positive yes, but also doesn't show much diversity among homeschoolers. I'd hate for people, especially people who aren't familiar with homeschooling, to think that in order to homeschool, they have to move to the country in a log cabin with buffalo.

Me too. Weird isn't quite the word, but yes it doesn't show diversity. It seems like homeschoolers are religious folk who live in cute cabins in the woods.

Unless someone thinks asphalt and atheists are cute, they won't find my reality quite as cute.

SparklyUnicorn · January 18, 2016

I agree. These types of articles annoy me, but I can't really explain why I have such a negative reaction to them.

I don't understand how these photos represent homeschoolers. What is so remarkable about watching squirrels or practicing a musical instrument? Don't most kids, regardless of how they are educated, do these things? Why do many of these articles seem to act like homeschoolers spend their time in nature or working on a farm?

In fact, I'm not sure they represent the average person in the US at all. I'm sure there are other families out there who live a similar life, but I haven't met anyone who lives like that.

Then again, my life I would not say is average either. And I would never claim that it is.

Laurie4b · January 18, 2016

Golly, y'all.

The photo essay book came about because someone clueless about homeschooling discovered it in her community and documented it in a positive way. That's a win in my book. It's just as if someone documented "fall" in her community and it was all aspen trees and no maples. Does that make it less beautiful? It's her corner of the world.

SparklyUnicorn · January 18, 2016

Golly, y'all.

The photo essay book came about because someone clueless about homeschooling discovered it in her community and documented it in a positive way. That's a win in my book. It's just as if someone documented "fall" in her community and it was all aspen trees and no maples. Does that make it less beautiful? It's her corner of the world.

No doubt about it, the pictures are beautiful. It still makes me feel like I'm not looking at anything I can relate to.

January 18, 2016

Me too. Weird isn't quite the word, but yes it doesn't show diversity. It seems like homeschoolers are religious folk who live in cute cabins in the woods.

Unless someone thinks asphalt and atheists are cute, they won't find my reality quite as cute.

I highly doubt they're Christian hobby farmers. Zephyr and Marley aren't high on the name list of the families I know who fit that description, nor do any of them favor Waldorf education (and most don't unschool, either ) :p

Most of us live in modest homes and apartments surrounded by neighbors and not wilderness. That's just the demographic truth for the US in general.

SparklyUnicorn · January 18, 2016

I highly doubt they're Christian hobby farmers. Zephyr and Marley aren't high on the name list of the families I know who fit that description, nor do any of them favor Waldorf education (and most don't unschool, either ) :p

Most of us live in modest homes and apartments surrounded by neighbors and not wilderness. That's just the demographic truth for the US in general.

One of the pictures showed then praying at the dinner table. Or at least that is what I assumed they were doing.

Miss Mousie · January 18, 2016

Me too. Weird isn't quite the word, but yes it doesn't show diversity. It seems like homeschoolers are religious folk who live in cute cabins in the woods.

Unless someone thinks asphalt and atheists are cute, they won't find my reality quite as cute.

You really, really need to write a poem or a song with that title. Best Title Ever.

Wheres Toto · January 18, 2016

One of the pictures says she's holding a list of the days activities. Some of the items:

Dragon treasure

Pease porridge hot

There lives in me an image...

Sounds like an interesting day.

January 18, 2016

One of the pictures showed then praying at the dinner table. Or at least that is what I assumed they were doing.

Yeeeeah, that one might have. The rest? I seriously doubt it. The context clues wouldn't indicate it, anyway.

SparklyUnicorn · January 18, 2016

You really, really need to write a poem or a song with that title. Best Title Ever.

LOL!

Or form a band. Maybe a punk band made up of homeschoolers.

SparklyUnicorn · January 18, 2016

One of the pictures says she's holding a list of the days activities. Some of the items:

Dragon treasure

Pease porridge hot

There lives in me an image...

Sounds like an interesting day.

I don't even know what any of that means.

Miss Mousie · January 18, 2016

LOL!

Or form a band. Maybe a punk band made up of homeschoolers.

Are you kidding?! Homeschoolers have NO discipline! ... Oh, wait ... neither do punk bands.

:lol:

Rock on!

SparklyUnicorn · January 18, 2016

Are you kidding?! Homeschoolers have NO discipline! ... Oh, wait ... neither do punk bands.

:lol:

Rock on!

Maybe the Abject Asphalt Atheists....

January 18, 2016

Maybe the Abject Asphalt Atheists....

...and you give excellent roadside service too?

JoJosMom · January 18, 2016

I just can't get over the fact that they have a Scottish Highlander and I don't. I am overcome with cow envy. :svengo:

Mimm · January 19, 2016

I highly doubt they're Christian hobby farmers. Zephyr and Marley aren't high on the name list of the families I know who fit that description, nor do any of them favor Waldorf education (and most don't unschool, either ) :p

Most of us live in modest homes and apartments surrounded by neighbors and not wilderness. That's just the demographic truth for the US in general.

One of the photo descriptions says that the kids were receiving an education with an emphasis on music and religion. I suppose that could be any religion but my guess is Christian.

SparklyUnicorn · January 19, 2016

...and you give excellent roadside service too?

No we are thugs of course and steal your rims.

HomeAgain · January 19, 2016

I find it interesting, but no, not representative of many I know, even the unschoolers. :laugh: It certainly doesn't look like the pictures I take every week in my own home.

Farrar · January 19, 2016

I understand why people get bothered by this stuff, but I am generally not. Most people aren't even necessarily familiar with the idea that homesteading hippy homeschoolers is a stereotype to be annoyed by in the first place. I feel like as long as depictions of homeschoolers are respectful then it's fine. I mean, nothing can portray the diversity of homeschooling. I'm not bothered by this any more than I was by the slew of articles about African American homeschooling last year (I read at least three) or the run of articles about urban liberal homeschoolers a couple of years before that.

January 19, 2016

Geez louise nothing can be all things to all people. If you feel like your aroma is underrepresented online, get thee to blogger and get to setting the universe aright!

Good luck to those folks from the op.

SparklyUnicorn · January 19, 2016

Yeah maybe we should come up with a video. Would be interesting.

January 19, 2016

I usually love these pieces but this one felt really weird. Like if you're no looking like a free spirited wealthy semi-rural hippy then you're doing it wrong.

January 19, 2016

I usually love these pieces but this one felt really weird. Like if you're no looking like a free spirited wealthy semi-rural hippy then you're doing it wrong.

Did they say that?

SparklyUnicorn · January 19, 2016

I usually love these pieces but this one felt really weird. Like if you're no looking like a free spirited wealthy semi-rural hippy then you're doing it wrong.

I was jealous over their house. Really really jealous.

pehp · January 19, 2016

My husband came home and told me about this...I just looked at it. The photos are nice, but I'm giggling over the unconventional names. I LOVE the unconventional names! But they definitely feed into the 'homesteading-hippie-ish' vibe. I like the vibe, too. So I'm not criticizing! I think I have to end every statement in this post like Jerry Seinfeld..."not that there's anything wrong with that."

At the very least, maybe it will make people take a positive interest in homeschooling. That's always my hope, anyhow!

Soror · January 19, 2016

Hmm, I think the pictures are nice enough. Kids look fine to me, I actually liked the rough edges to them, it didn't look all polished up trying to show some Pinterest world. The last couple articles I've read were showing hs'ing more from a city perspective- which I like well enough- but there are plenty of us that are rural as well and I could see my family in some of the pics- even if we don't have animals or live in a log cabin I could relate.

madteaparty · January 19, 2016

Mmmmm, I find it's hard enough to explain homeschooling without these stereotypes being constantly reinforced.

But then we don't live in a log cabin or have a farm and my kid isn't artsy or particularly interested in nature. Perhaps its us that doesn't fit the mold, but I kinda don't think so.

I live in a farm, in the woods, and my life does not look like this either.

Farrar · January 19, 2016

It's funny to me that people say it looks so different from their lives. Other than the kid in the dress up cap with the bison (by the way, :lol: !), these photos all looked like lives I know... I mean, the interior ones felt very familiar to me - kids lounging around, being creative, drawing, etc. etc. Even the more outdoorsy photos honestly look like some people I know who have more land in the burbs or who seem to be constantly visiting farms. I mean, the FB versions are a little more polished, but still.

Junie · January 19, 2016

I understand why people get bothered by this stuff, but I am generally not. Most people aren't even necessarily familiar with the idea that homesteading hippy homeschoolers is a stereotype to be annoyed by in the first place. I feel like as long as depictions of homeschoolers are respectful then it's fine. I mean, nothing can portray the diversity of homeschooling. I'm not bothered by this any more than I was by the slew of articles about African American homeschooling last year (I read at least three) or the run of articles about urban liberal homeschoolers a couple of years before that.

except this board, lol! :)

madteaparty · January 19, 2016

It's funny to me that people say it looks so different from their lives. Other than the kid in the dress up cap with the bison (by the way, :lol: !), these photos all looked like lives I know... I mean, the interior ones felt very familiar to me - kids lounging around, being creative, drawing, etc. etc. Even the more outdoorsy photos honestly look like some people I know who have more land in the burbs or who seem to be constantly visiting farms. I mean, the FB versions are a little more polished, but still.

I have 8 acres, complete with a zipline and old magical stone walls in the woods. Do my kids ever wonder like elfin children in the woods? No. We are huddled like fools by the woodstove. Maybe I have nature envy.

SparklyUnicorn · January 19, 2016

It's funny to me that people say it looks so different from their lives. Other than the kid in the dress up cap with the bison (by the way, :lol: !), these photos all looked like lives I know... I mean, the interior ones felt very familiar to me - kids lounging around, being creative, drawing, etc. etc. Even the more outdoorsy photos honestly look like some people I know who have more land in the burbs or who seem to be constantly visiting farms. I mean, the FB versions are a little more polished, but still.

I was so distracted by the pretty house.

I have no land. None.

Outdoor pics at the moment would be brown, muddy, slushy, and ugly.

Lounging though...I have that part nailed.

Farrar · January 19, 2016

I don't have any land either. That's what the big park in the middle of the city is for. It's so big you can hide a dead intern and no one will find her. (Sorry, tasteless Chandra Levy reference...)

I guess I didn't think it looked all that idyllic... they just looked like they were hanging out. Like that girl on top of whatever that was in her yard. Or the girl looking at the muddy bridge with her dad.

I wish I could find the photo of us that was in wapo a few years ago. The kids are on a tire swing and I'm pushing them. We look soooooo perfect. It's just the magic of a good photographer.

Arcadia · January 19, 2016

I was looking at the photos last night and it just reminds me of self employed photographers portfolios. A neighbor is a self employed full time photographer doing mainly outdoor family portraits.

Corraleno · January 19, 2016

The thing that bugs me about the book is the odd disconnect between the photos, which mostly show kids doing ordinary everyday things that have nothing to do with homeschooling, and the text, which implies these families are are doing something really exotic and extraordinary. It's like watching a nature documentary with David Attenborough speaking in hushed tones about this rare species of bird and its amazing and unusual behavior, while the video is showing a bunch of sparrows sitting on branches, eating seeds, and splashing in a bird bath.

I also predict that the combination of artsy photography and unusual names is going to result in a lot of parody and satire:
Twins Rothko and Okeefe collect twigs to use in their latest art project, Homage to Andy Goldsworthy. Once the project is preserved on Instagram, it will be used as kindling.
Salinger milks the family's pygmy goat, Chobani, while her brother Kafka gathers wild blueberries for their home-made kefir.

Origami's mother checks Biology Lesson off the list after he watches a pair of possums mating on the shed roof.

Edited January 19, 2016 by Corraleno

Farrar · January 19, 2016

The thing that bugs me about the book is the odd disconnect between the photos, which mostly show kids doing ordinary everyday things that have nothing to do with homeschooling, and the text, which implies these families are are doing something really exotic and extraordinary. It's like watching a nature documentary with David Attenborough speaking in hushed tones about this rare species of bird and its amazing and unusual behavior, while the video is showing a bunch of sparrows sitting on branches, eating seeds, and splashing in a bird bath.

I also predict that the combination of artsy photography and unusual names is going to result in a lot of parody and satire:

Twins Rothko and Okeefe collect twigs to use in their latest art project, Homage to Andy Goldsworthy. Once the project is preserved on Instagram, it will be used as kindling.

Salinger milks the family's pygmy goat, Chobani, while her brother Kafka gathers wild blueberries for their home-made kefir.

Origami's mother checks Biology Lesson off the list after he watches a pair of possums mating on the shed roof.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Desert Strawberry · January 19, 2016

Well, it is Woodstock,so... that might explain the demographic just a teense.

It looks pretty similar to our lives, and I'm sure most rural kids in this country. I agree though, nothing particularly homeschooly about the tiny snips of time portrayed here. That makes me think though about all of the conversations I've had with school moms who ask what we do all day that is so magical. I describe our day of reading stories, writing lessons, playing together, going to museums and libraries, listening to music, doing art, taking walks, and playing outside, and they respond with, "We do all of that, too." Um, ok. Good for you. I guess.
I mean, none of that is uniquely exclusive to homeschooled kids. It's more a matter of volume and quantity and togetherness. You can't see any of that in a snapshot.

Desert Strawberry · January 19, 2016

Also, it occurs to me that perhaps the gain here is that THESE KIDS ARE NORMAL. If people are imagining homeschooled kids in little desks in nice, neat rows in a back room of the house watching mom teach at the blackboard, or poring over the bible in long skirts and braids, or dressed in little Amish suits, or playing video games all day, or...whatever weird misconceptions they might have, these pictures might show them that homeschooled kids ARE KIDS doing normal, nonweird kid things.

January 19, 2016

Why weren't the kids allowed to smile ?

I think the takeaway from these photos is that homeschooling is both picturesque and deadly serious.

Maybe that's what's bugging me that I couldn't quite put my finger on - where are the smiles or at least pleasant expressions? It's weird, all wealthy hippy in the woods-ness aside.

abba12 · January 19, 2016

except this board, lol! :)

Even here we don't. There's very few true unschoolers or radical unschoolers. There's no 'buy the same books the local schools use and do school at desks from 9-3' families since they'd have no real direction here, there's not really any 'buy the religious boxed curriculum and do it like the rest of our church' semi-cult families. I assume we don't have any ATI families here. I've not seen many posts from immigrant families. There isn't really any of the super pushy, tiger mom college at 12 types around (even on the accelerated board, most are delaying college to a normal age and quite un-pushy) There's not many distance learners which is a large demographic in Australia since we are so spread out and have had correspondence and distance courses since, like, forever.

There's just nowhere that captures the entirety of homeschooling. If I were a photographer I'd do a photo book like the hungry planet or material world books, but for homeschoolers, encompassing their entire range and scope, not just the stereotypical extremes, but the less heard of ones too.

momma2three · January 19, 2016

My takeaway is that I gave my kids the wrong names to be homeschoolers...

The Well-Trained Mind Extended Guide

"Homeschooled," new photo essay book to be published first in Europe, then US--positive view of homeschooling!

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