Marginalizing Homeschoolers

I sense that collectively they have a major undeserved, inferiority complex.

I feel like all they do is talk about *schools* and defend themselves against sophistical Big Media attacks.

Put it this way, the academic difference between my 4.5 year old son and his age-mates is already astronomical. The idea that his mother and I would ever feel him or our homeschool decision *inferior* to that of the mass schooled sheeple requires a real stretch of the imagination. Point of fact, I KNOW that others have seen his progress and decided to take totally revamped approaches to the education of their own. Just today someone accosted me in a parking lot and demanded to know how I *taught my son to read*. I was delighted that she asked - because most do not. Most block it out; speciously justify their own laziness and lack of research; or employ some other mental gymnastic which may include catchphrases like *enjoying their childhood* or *socialization*.

I only had a minute, but I told the woman the basic approach we took to reading - which is to READ EVERYTHING we walk by: street signs, grocery signs, cereal boxes, DVD boxes, etc. It's just about been proven empirically that it only takes 70 hours of effort to learn to read. The sooner you put in the time, the sooner you can move on to everything else. [Now we are trying to forge into *spelling* and *composition* which are one and two notches above literacy as far as I am concerned.]

Education is not a competition. I would willingly go to great lengths to teach others what *I think I know*. This holds true with the golf swing as well. I would donate hours with any willing student....but nobody ever asks. Seriously, the demand for genuine advice is microscopic.

So, getting back to homeschooling....

I recently subscribed to the above magazine - which I think is THE publication of homeschoolers - and I must say I was very disappointed. It was all fluff and a zillion ads - and, not for anything, I found myself way more interested in the ads than anything else. If print media wasn't such an outdated enterprise I would have my new business idea right here. This magazine only comes out every two months and yet, there were only 12 articles! And they all stunk!

Hmmmm....now that I think about it, maybe I should start such a publication?

Anyway, if I did, I'd only focus on *positive* information. I'd center the magazine on teaching and learning and ignore altogether what those foundering factory schools were doing.

That was so Blogging 1.0. In the early days, all the blogosphere did was take Big Media agitprop and rip it to shreds. In fact, sadly this is probably what 90% of it still leans on today.

But I submit that Blogging 2.0 is about starting your own conversation - one wholly independent from what other Morons might be saying or doing. The internet has liberated us; there's no reason whatsoever to look back.



Homeschooling Update - the Prince has been smitten by negative numbers - yeah, that lefthand side of the number line that I didn't learn until probably the 7th grade. Oh, and he also figured out what *division* was after incessant hounding me about the ÷ button on his calculator and a 10 second explanation. He keeps asking me about the *memory* buttons on it but my honest confession of ignorance is wearing thin on him also. Fractions should be coming soon, right after we conclude vertical addition and vertical subtraction. And hopefully soon my favorite, Euclidean geometry!