Dean and I had an interesting discussion on the way to his drop-off point for ride-share this morning. Will Jordan attend public high school. Dean thinks that he will. I say 'Hell NO!'. No way. No no no no no.
(okay, I just had to retrieve Colin's graham cracker from Abby's mouth (dog) and give it back to him. Is there something wrong with that? Damn dog...)
I see the value in looking ahead and making plans. You just can't do that with homeschooling, in this respect anyway... Jordan is still growing. He is still learning about what life is all about, and what direction he would like to go with his education. We are not unschoolers, so I don't mean that Jordan gets to go only where he decides to go. I follow guidelines about what Jordan should be learning about. (Rebecca Rupp's Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School, and Core Knowledge). So he is getting maximum exposure to multiple curriculum topics. The only thing that I am unsure of at the high school level is math. But that can easily be handled by A) an excellent online curriculum B) his father C) a tutor if need be. Otherwise, I am totally comfortable doing the high school years with him. In fact, I am looking forward to it, because I will be learning as well, or at least refreshing my memory. There is so much wonderful stuff out there to learn about. Every day I troll the web, looking for stuff. You can even take virtual tours of art galleries!! I love what you can do with the aid of the internet now.
Now, I am going to say something very bold and likely it will touch off a huge debate with my husband... but I think a college education is totally over-rated. (gasp!). I won't say I am anti-college, but I am getting there. NOT because I got burned with my degree (totally useless and worth nothing to me), but because it was a system (in our country anyway) designed (4 centuries ago!!) by ego-hungry, elitist fat-cats that felt that they were entitled to decide what 'learning' had to take place before you could indeed be endowed with a very expensive piece of paper. They decided that the ONLY way to become a doctor, lawyer, banker, ect... was through THEIR system, thus making knowledge a commodity - only available to those who could afford it. Which is an even bigger problem today. No amount of textbook reading can surpass the experiences one has through apprenticeships and the like - which is why the traditional format of college no longer appeals to me. It is not the best way to learn. Also, a word about 'electives'. Sure, you want a well-rounded education. But 'electives'?? I am convinced it is just the university's way of soaking you for another year's-worth of tuition while delivering you absolutely nothing worthwhile. What about everything you learned before college?? Isn't that considered well-rounding?? You had to learn a little bit about art, music, history, geography, civics and the like.... why must you continue in college when it has nothing to do with your chosen career path?? Isn't that the job of public education?? Oh wait... never mind. You only learn about reading, writing and math in public school now. ;) If you are truly passionate about history - you will continue to learn about it for the rest of your life anyway!!
I want for my children to live their passion. I don't want them to just have a job that pays the bills. I want them to LOVE their work - so much so that it won't feel like 'work' to them. If a degree is necessary for that line of work ( a medical researcher. for example) then college won't be a wasted experience because they will WANT to learn everything they can about it. I also hope that they don't turn 18 and just go on to college because that's the thing to do. I hope they wait a few years until they are seasoned 20-somethings, and know what they want.
What I loath the most about public high school is the peer influence. I wish I could go back and re-do my academic experience - without all of the peer stuff. Yes, I loved being in marching band - but it lead to so much other social stuff, that there was no time for schoolwork. And the social 'stuff' still leaves a bad taste in my mouth to this day. I love my friends, we still keep in touch, but so much angst, drama, fighting, silliness, exposure to smoking and drinking... I DO NOT want my children to have to experience that. The bullying, the threat of drugs and weapons, incompetent teachers... the list goes on and on. The bright spots were the small handful of really great teachers that I had that continue to be an inspiration to this day. But the overall experience leaves me feeling that I wish I had been homeschooled too. Sad isn't it.
I am committed to see this through all the way!
