Free Range Learning: How Homeschooling Changes Everything by Weldon Laura

Author:Weldon, Laura [Weldon, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781935387091
Publisher: SCB Distributors
Published: 2013-09-10T21:00:00+00:00

—Lori Scelina

Common sense tells us close family connections are optimal for all age groups. The National Institute of Health is conducting a longitudinal study of 90,000 adolescents throughout the U.S. to identify factors that influence teen health choices from nutrition to risk taking. Some findings stand out. The teens least likely to make risky choices were those who said they felt “connected” to their parents and felt that their families cared. These youths reported that they shared activities with their parents and that there was a parent with them at key times of the day such as morning, dinner and bedtime.

Cultivating strong family bonds is a natural side effect of homeschooling as we pursue our interests, share chores and simply enjoy one another’s company. Our children are freer to relax and allow their natural enthusiasms to shine through. They aren’t forced to spend most of their waking hours in controlled settings so they are under less pressure. Because they are not prematurely forced to separate, children can develop a strong sense of self. With that strength our children are able to form lasting relationships with friends and come to know themselves as whole people.

I would not be the person I am today if I had stayed in school. School crushes the individuality and the wonderful weird-ness out of you. You reject your own little quirks and odd interests and enjoyments because you are afraid of being ostracized and rejected. I know because I did that to myself, even though I was only in school from kindergarten through 6th grade. You don’t have the time to pursue your own interests in school and you can’t let yourself appear to be enthusiastic or interested in something outside of what is ’cool’ or ’normal’ because you will be made fun of. I would have never, ever done the things I did as a homeschooler and that I love now if I had been schooled—no study of musk-rat decomposition, no dissections, no reading about forensics or getting a cow or culturing bacteria and fungi from between my toes. I would have been afraid to let myself enjoy these things.

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