When your out with a kid, you get asked the same things time and again, or well cause my son is far from shy I just sit their while he does.
"How old are you?" "What's your name" and I think it's especially weird one of "What school do you go? But I guess its question with definite answer. In our case its
"I'm home schooled" This often redirects the attention very much on to me, The question then becomes Why? How? Is that legal? So, I'm very practiced I have my spiel.
I decided to home educate when I was 22. I had done most of my education in the U.S. in one of the most liberal states, on an island out in the ocean that tried to assert its independence in secession movement in 1977, where people refer to every where else as "off-island", and the rest of the Country as "America". Asserting they really are that special, they are not Americans they are Vineyarders.
I'm getting a bit off point, I was fortunate to receive a very liberal education in the hippest of the islands 5 towns. 3 of the towns fed into our school at the time, and there still wasn't enough kids to fill a classroom some years, property taxes in the summer resort meant I have never seen other schools so well equipped.
Then at 16 I came to England. I was in constant trouble, and I did not know why it wasn't until after doing my foundation 6 years and several schools later, during the lecture my art history teacher told me to stop asking questions else we wouldn't get through the lectures on time.
It dawned on me this had been the problem all along, I had not realized engaging in my education had marked me out as disruptive. And this was when I decided if I had children here I would certainly educate at home.
There are other huge reasons the school system here(and else where) is failing, which seems to be something everyone agrees on, but doesn't quite know how to fix.
Last month the department of education announced Schools across the country are planning to boost the amount of time and staff devoted to teaching Maths which though not inherently bad idea, doesn't address the real issue which is if everyone is bored and not paying attention then it doesn't really matter what your teaching.
The national curriculum, the standardization of what is being taught in classrooms across the land, regardless of where your class is developmentally was introduced in 1988 and standardized testing for 7 year olds in in 1991. For the life of me don't know what standardized testing can prove other than a lack of individual thought. Its not so much that I want my son to be some great free thinker (though I would not mind) I just want him to enjoy learning, and I think the easiest way to kill this is to force all the kids in the land to learn it all the same time, at the same rate.
I have other qualms I don't like uniform, They claim is to prevent teasing, but I feel it in fact teaches the idea there is a right way to dress and be and as the opposite effect. Never mind the people who claim the children are learning how to dress for work.
I am the child of a Jew and a Catholic. I was raised in a faithless household where we had a Christmas tree, the occasional menorah and loads of sugar at Easter. No one ever mentioned God. When I moved to England at 16 I was shocked to find my self in assemblies where I was expected to sing hymns, and even pray. I was horrified when at college they locked all the gates so we could be herded out the front gate and into the church. In short I do not believe religion should play any role in state provided Education. I would not want to send my child into an environment where it is the norm to force children to pray to a God to which they feel no allegiance.
In most cases I probably have not been allowed to get this far and my son has somehow managed to become centre stage again.
but the next question is often when I will send him to school, I did think I may send him for high school, or even once he was a confident reader. I'm so certain of my choice and enjoying it so immensely and feel it is the best choice for the person who my child is, that that day is moving further and further into the future.