Before I came home with my three children I was a recreation therapist for
> 15 years and what I know is that people do not give much credit to what they
> don't know or to the everyday things or leisure activites they do for
> learning purposes.
Not only do they not give much credit, they become defensive of their own
way of doing things. I have a dear friend whose children are in public
school. Anytime one of her homeschooling friends even mentions something
homeschool related she becomes defensive and mentions that she is hurt by
our judging her when we weren't judging at all. It could be something as
simple as mentioning a homeschool activity such as a recent discussion about
a museum exhibit and mentioning that we had attended with our homeschool
group. Sometimes I think she feels like she could be doing more with her
children so just the mention of what she sees as a lacking on her part feels
like criticism. Not that we are criticizing, but that she is critical of
her own decisions.
My mother always questions why I am "doing this." She doesn't understand
why I would want to do "all this work" when the school system can do it for
me. She has said to me before, "School was good enough for you." Ah, but
how much different would I be had I been homeschooled? My mother is
defensive because I am doing something different, making different
decisions, than she did. What she did wasn't "as good." I've learned not
to complain about anything to my mother. Not lack of free time, feeling
overburdened on weeks when we have a crammed full schedule, not sleeping
well, Dan working late hours, etc because it is all (in her mind) related to
the children not being in school.
--
Michelle
Independent Kitchen Consultant #413652
The Pampered Chef
850-474-0817 http://www.pamperedchef.biz/michellelr
Ask me how you can save 60% on some of our most favorite products!
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