I haven’t been bullied in YEARS. It’s not a normal part of adult life.  In adult life, bullying is harassment.  It can get you fired from a job.  It can get you sued.  It is not acceptable and yet there are people who believe it is a necessary lesson that children need to learn though most never do. This is one of the most half-assed, non-critically considered arguments that non-homeschooling parents come up with as an excuse to not consider a viable alternative.

Bullying in schools is not normal.  It’s bad parenting being spread from the bully to other children.  Ask a parent if their child can go over a bully’s house to spend time with the parents and the answer will be a resounding ‘No.’  I’m not saying at all that kids who bully are bad – they are victims, and they’re often worse off than any kid they bully.  But it is not normal by any means.  Children can learn to handle a jerk when they are good & ready, and that’s different for every child.

This goes with the fallacy of socialization. Sticking 30 kids who are learning to be social together & then asking them to sit down & be quiet is pointless.   It’s completely and utterly antisocial.  When I want social interaction, I don’t go to someplace and sit quietly next to other people without talking to them.  Socialization in schools is the biggest crock of sh!t reason to school out there.  I’d buy the socialization argument if recess were 6 hrs long so kids could actually practice being social.  (and being bullied of course…)

</rant>

No big shock here.  You can pick & choose the basic reasons why – all work & no play makes Jose a dull boy?  Or perhaps that punishment doesn’t work?  (see Alfie Kohn’s Punished by Rewards)  Or, as many critics of homeschooling say, that kids need school to be ‘socialized’ – then perhaps they should be allowed to be social instead of cooped up in a classroom being trained for a cubefarm.

2. Too Many Online Friends? Time to Delete

I’ve never quite gotten the whole concept of ‘friending’ online.  Peeps with thousands of friends?  It’s some version of reality that I know nothing about.  Peeps seem to agonize about over defriending/unfriending someone, in case someone is offended or if they themselves regret it.  I’ve culled my list 3 times in the past 6 months, and gone are the people I haven’t seen or spoken to in the past couple of years.  Or the high school peeps I added during my first couple of weeks on Facebook who I don’t even recall speaking to.  I don’t know how people have hundreds of people as ‘friends’ as the status updates and this and that all become annoying, time-wasting noise.

I admit that I had some concerns leading up to the first class.  M’s used to doing his own thing and being himself – how would he respond to being in a more structured environment?  He’s also quite shy AND very excitable.  I wasn’t sure how it was going to go.

I resolved to watch but stay out of his way, to let him handle things himself.  The first class wasn’t actually a class – it was more like a little field day with races and a needless reward at the end of the day.  Still, I thought that maybe the less-structured start would be a nice warm-up.

Instead of his regular instructor was the owner, who had a display of fossils to kick things off.  M was REALLY excited by this, and so was I!  It took a lot of self-control to not run over to hold the megalodon tooth.  But I had to let M be and he was far from shy.  Man – shy is the absolute last word to describe him at that time.  He was so excited that kept talking about every little thing, stating what it was, talking over the guy and generally being loud and excited.  By the end of the day the owner was visibly tired of M, but M didn’t notice and I didn’t say anything to him.

He did fine for the little races and all and his excitement continued.  He talked excitedly, ran the races and such and seemed to have a really good time.  Of course, the coot of an owner had to have a boys vs girls race at the end (why not enforce the the notion that the sexes are different?  yech.).  M decided to not finish his leg of the relay despite people telling him what he should be doing, and that was cool to see.  And satisfying that I’m not the only one he decides not to listen to

In preparation for the next class I spoke to him only about being quiet when others are learning and to listen to the instructor, all in the interest of safety.  In subsequent classes his maturity has surprised me.  I know the other kids are used to being compliant but M is making the choice to listen, pay attention and learn.  I admit that I wasn’t sure whether he would be amenable or not – and honestly, whether he could or not.  But he’s way more capable than I had given him credit for.  Not only that, but he is VERY social with the other kids, who seem to be drawn to the shaggy haired, smiley kid who jumps around at every chance.

Sometimes he sees us watching and waves but the last time he was very engaged in class and hardly looked over.  I can’t believe that’s my little boy – the really shy kid who always does his own thing.  I suppose I should get used to it