Countering assumptions
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My DH and I had to have a mini exam this am at our house for insurance. When
it was my turn I was talking to the lady as she was drawing blood, she asked
me the ages of my kids and where my youngest went to school. I told her we hs'd
and she launched into several paragraphs about how organized I must be and
how much time it takes and how well a friend of hers did while hsing her dd. How
the lady worked hard to keep up with the required outline and to meet the
testing requirements and so on. Also how when the DD went back to school she was
very far ahead of her grade level. I got the impression that she believed that
going back into the system is what is always in a hsing parents mind so
therefore we are always keeping our eye on "what's required" so we can stay in
step.
Whew! I just sat there a minute and thought about it all. I then asked her if
this friend lived in Ohio and she said yes. I told her that Ohio regulations
which have been in place since 1989 do not require any testing, it is an
option and that we are not required to use any "approved" Curriculum. I also
explained that we don't use the school model in our home, we learn differently. (a
little more more or less but this was the gist) She didn't really say much more
and I was glad we were about finished. Sometimes when I am talking to people
like that I feel like we are speaking in different languages and we each know
just a little of each others language, just enough to communicate but not
well. I would have loved to share how wonderful learning and life can be.
(Actually I have to say I do know that language, I do know the school model that may
be why it is even harder to bridge that span, I know how long it took me and I
wanted to do it. I knew that it wasn't going to happen in a 15minute
conversation)
I did tell her that I don't feel that what I do is a lot of work because I
love it, I love my kids and I love to learn so it all fits right together. Maybe
she will think a little. I have thought of more but I will write about it in
another post since it is a different subject and this is too long now.
Laura
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
it was my turn I was talking to the lady as she was drawing blood, she asked
me the ages of my kids and where my youngest went to school. I told her we hs'd
and she launched into several paragraphs about how organized I must be and
how much time it takes and how well a friend of hers did while hsing her dd. How
the lady worked hard to keep up with the required outline and to meet the
testing requirements and so on. Also how when the DD went back to school she was
very far ahead of her grade level. I got the impression that she believed that
going back into the system is what is always in a hsing parents mind so
therefore we are always keeping our eye on "what's required" so we can stay in
step.
Whew! I just sat there a minute and thought about it all. I then asked her if
this friend lived in Ohio and she said yes. I told her that Ohio regulations
which have been in place since 1989 do not require any testing, it is an
option and that we are not required to use any "approved" Curriculum. I also
explained that we don't use the school model in our home, we learn differently. (a
little more more or less but this was the gist) She didn't really say much more
and I was glad we were about finished. Sometimes when I am talking to people
like that I feel like we are speaking in different languages and we each know
just a little of each others language, just enough to communicate but not
well. I would have loved to share how wonderful learning and life can be.
(Actually I have to say I do know that language, I do know the school model that may
be why it is even harder to bridge that span, I know how long it took me and I
wanted to do it. I knew that it wasn't going to happen in a 15minute
conversation)
I did tell her that I don't feel that what I do is a lot of work because I
love it, I love my kids and I love to learn so it all fits right together. Maybe
she will think a little. I have thought of more but I will write about it in
another post since it is a different subject and this is too long now.
Laura
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]