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I wanted something to read while I was having lunch, so I clicked on a
homeschooling blog ring and read something a little sad. In the description of the
blog the mom had specified right early and clearly that her method was
eclectic. After reading about another slightly younger child for whom she finds
reading and math instruction online, I read this:

-=-My daughter, age 16, is going her own way, refusing to believe that she
doesn't have to attend public highschool to succeed in college. She's been a
rebellion factory for years now - this is nothing new. I know if I wanted her to
attend a public school she would be begging for homeschool.-=-


"Refusing to believe"?
That phrase doesn't come up at our house.

I think mostly it's because I don't just TELL my kids that something is or
isn't true, I try to find evidence so they can see for themselves and believe it
because of proof. There's no refusal to believe what is clearly shown.

Kirby brakes quickly and later than I would, when he drives. I've told him
a couple of stories and reminded him that brakes CAN fail, and I told him that
I wished he'd be careful BEFORE he experiences brake failure. He didn't
"refuse to believe" it, he tries to do it my way, but his belief so far is based
on his own experience.

The other day he bumped the back of a pickup (or SUV or something high). He
was in a big van. They were big. He didn't hit hard. The other car
turned right from the middle lane, so Kirby followed figuring they wanted to pull
over and discuss insurance, maybe call the police, all that. (For those
locals wanting to picture this, he was coming south/downhill on Juan Tabo and it
happened just before the light at Comanche; they turned right onto Comanche.)
So... He's following politely as as he should, and they speed up and take
off. He pulls into a parking lot to look at the van. Some part of the
plastic edges of the bumper cover (aren't cars irritating sometimes!?) is gone,
so he went back to the scene and retrieved it.

NOW Kirby knows what can happen if you count too much on the magic of brakes.
Now he KNOWS. He was lucky not to get a ticket and a moving violation.
He felt it was the other driver's fault, for doing some weird
stop-and-start-and-hesitate thing about maybe changing lanes. I reminded him it's his job to
give all the cars in front of him room to do that very thing.

So back to the reported 16-year-old rebellion factory...

The conditions required to create rebellion don't exist at my house.
I don't think unschooling provides a good environment for a rebellion factory
to emerge.

Holly (14 now) very seriously considered going to 8th grade. She talked
about it for over a year, and a dozen times, we lurked around the middle school
when kids were arriving or leaving. (Cameron Lovejoy went with us one day, so
we have a witness to Holly's fascination.) Holly wasn't doing that out of
rebellion or a refusal to believe. She wanted to learn about school and
schoolkids. She wanted to see what she was missing.

A couple of all-day visits to another school (Sandia Prep) satisfied a lot of
her curiosity. Discussion with friends who had done school and homeschool
both convinced her that home was good for her.

Kirby, at 19, isn't a rebellion factory.
Marty, 16, isn't a rebellion factory.
Holly, 14, isn't a rebellion factory.

Just thought I'd mention that. <g>

Next time I need lunchtime reading I'll go to the unschooling blogring!

Sandra


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