It is a common misconception among families who place their children in public school as well as, families who are just beginning to ponder the possibilities about starting to home school their children as to how will my child become social.
It is often thought that a home schooling family keeps their child isolated and sheltered from other children and families who do not share their values and beliefs. To a degree some of this is true but, considering the dismal failures within public school we have to consider the fact that just because a child has friends at school that this child is receiving an adequate socialization. One of the solutions we have discovered during our trip to Georgia is that we are not alone in our home schooling quest for collective enlightenment. Many families feel and see the same contradictions most families come in contact with when depending upon conventional schooling methods designed for the public. One major key that we hold in high regard is the cultural congruence that we are able to afford over to our children, that would otherwise not be present in our child's public curriculum. Being able to watch and pull out key points in Meltrek's historical animation, allows us to ignite our children's imagination about the prominent figures in their history and what they are connected to as well.
Taking our children on field trips to Yisrael Family Farm opens up an array of possibilities as to what production is while seeing how ecological systems work in perfect harmony with each other. One would be surprised at a child's capacity to absorb this reality and explore its possibilities without instruction and demand. Innate is a child's power to create and learn from their environment, a teachers only real responsibility is to guide students towards what they already know. A child who has two apples already knows that they have enough food to share with a comrade even before they know how to count, this intuitive drive is innate and doesn't need to be taught, a teacher can encourage this behavior by just saying "good job".
During our homeschooling adventures to children's museums it has become apparent that there are certain limitations on what "hands on" means within a controlled environment like a museum.
What a child may like or find exciting, is merely a projection from an adult's imagination, this is not to say that this is a negative aspect, it just is, what it is. Say for instance, that a constructed tree house with a drop down basket intended for fake fruit. It will not evolve into a manual elevator for children to pull one another up, this behavior will be categorized as deviant and stopped by museum staff. What allows children to interact with the most free flow is within the palm of nature, during hikes, nature walks and time at the beach when tide is low, and sea creatures appear. This opens up a child's capacity to view nature as a part of themselves. The beautiful aspect of homeschooling Co-Ops is the opportunities to turn these particular activities into an active part of their curriculum, it puts the power back into the parents hands to be responsible for how their collective destiny evolves and develops.
What I am trying to convey is that most parents believe that there aren't ways for them to be involved in a homeschooling process but, by way of home schooling Co'Ops it takes some of the pressure off of individual parents and spreads it across a collective.
Many hands make for light work, anyone who has every raised children or even baby sat some one's child knows how much of a task this is. It is very possible to create a intricate system of cultivation, learning and development for our children. It is also possible to create a simple learning style that allows for children to learn at a pace that doesn't leave them daunting what education is and what it can do.
Children will over time eventually adapt to whatever environment they are placed in, whether it be good, bad or ugly. When considering schools and institutions of learning it is up to the parents with all their untapped power and potential to make the final decision on what is more ideal for their child, education or indoctrination and which of the two ultimately leads to liberation and sovereignty.
- Creso