How to stay strong
Mary Bianco
From: "Tod and Emily" <todandemily@...>
<<How do you stay strong in your beliefs and committment to unschooling in
the face of disapproval?>>
I see what schools can do. My oldest has always gone to school and although
a "good, private one" it was awful in her early years. Her being in the
system actually was one very main reason for my husband and I to homeschool.
Plus I see what unschooling does and how my children are. That's definitely
proof enough for me to overcome all the disapproval I can get. And I have
gotten it from family. Not mine but my in laws. My mom is an ex school
teacher and she is very supportive. She's quick to tell all her friends
about what we do and I must admit, I get more support from them than the
younger people. My mom is 77 and all her friends are that age and older.
They are extremely supportive. Maybe they all remember the days of the one
room schoolhouse and that makes a big difference from how schools are now.
My in laws have stopped commenting. Mostly because I just stay away from
them now but my MIL keeps her mouth shut. It was a losing battle. I'm fierce
when I really believe in something! Stick to your guns. Have a rehearsed
speech about unschooling if that makes you more comfortable. Be aware of all
the negatives you may get and be ready to answer them if that's important to
you. You could just walk away. Those around you hopefully will stop
eventually. But proof is in the pudding.
<<Do you fear that your child will someday resent your descision not to put
them in school like "normal" kids? What do you do with that?>>
Well hopefully my kids won't do that. All I can go by is the unschoolers I
know that are grown. They still love the idea that they were given such an
opportunity. I really don't see it ending up a negative thing.
<<I feel worried by this notion that even though I see that unschooling will
be vastly superior to public schooling, is it really ok to make such a big
decision for someone else?>>
At such a young age when the schools want our children, yes I think it is
okay to make such a decision. Five is way too young for a child to be sent
off with total strangers who I know nothing about to be cared for all day.
They don't have the skills yet to deal with it all and it can be
overwhelming and harmful. When they are older and more aware of what school
is, then it can be different. I'm still on the fence about this one. I
thought at one time I would never say okay to my kids going to school when
they got older. Now I'm not so sure that I could deny them that if that's
what they really wanted. I sure would hope if that happened, they would come
running back home. It hasn't come up though and my two middle children say
they will never ever go to school! So far so good!
Mary B
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<<How do you stay strong in your beliefs and committment to unschooling in
the face of disapproval?>>
I see what schools can do. My oldest has always gone to school and although
a "good, private one" it was awful in her early years. Her being in the
system actually was one very main reason for my husband and I to homeschool.
Plus I see what unschooling does and how my children are. That's definitely
proof enough for me to overcome all the disapproval I can get. And I have
gotten it from family. Not mine but my in laws. My mom is an ex school
teacher and she is very supportive. She's quick to tell all her friends
about what we do and I must admit, I get more support from them than the
younger people. My mom is 77 and all her friends are that age and older.
They are extremely supportive. Maybe they all remember the days of the one
room schoolhouse and that makes a big difference from how schools are now.
My in laws have stopped commenting. Mostly because I just stay away from
them now but my MIL keeps her mouth shut. It was a losing battle. I'm fierce
when I really believe in something! Stick to your guns. Have a rehearsed
speech about unschooling if that makes you more comfortable. Be aware of all
the negatives you may get and be ready to answer them if that's important to
you. You could just walk away. Those around you hopefully will stop
eventually. But proof is in the pudding.
<<Do you fear that your child will someday resent your descision not to put
them in school like "normal" kids? What do you do with that?>>
Well hopefully my kids won't do that. All I can go by is the unschoolers I
know that are grown. They still love the idea that they were given such an
opportunity. I really don't see it ending up a negative thing.
<<I feel worried by this notion that even though I see that unschooling will
be vastly superior to public schooling, is it really ok to make such a big
decision for someone else?>>
At such a young age when the schools want our children, yes I think it is
okay to make such a decision. Five is way too young for a child to be sent
off with total strangers who I know nothing about to be cared for all day.
They don't have the skills yet to deal with it all and it can be
overwhelming and harmful. When they are older and more aware of what school
is, then it can be different. I'm still on the fence about this one. I
thought at one time I would never say okay to my kids going to school when
they got older. Now I'm not so sure that I could deny them that if that's
what they really wanted. I sure would hope if that happened, they would come
running back home. It hasn't come up though and my two middle children say
they will never ever go to school! So far so good!
Mary B
_________________________________________________________________
MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*.
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus