Preaching to the choir...

We've been homeschooling for about 7 years, and as the years go on I become more and more convinced of it's value. Sometimes though, something happens that reinforces even more strongly for me the "rightness" of homeschooling, and makes me wonder how anyone can not be very worried about the education and negative experiences many children are getting in ps.

Steph did a beautiful job yesterday detailing some major problems with the ps "education" piece... and after spending a couple of hours sharing a park with a bunch of ps 6th graders, I am once again appalled and shaking my head at the "experiences" side of ps education.

We were at park day with our homeschool group yesterday. Although we live in the country, we are just about an hour from a major city... and park day is in a park in a fairly affluent suburb of this city. (So this is not a poor, inner-city, disadvantaged area.) When we got to the park we saw that we were sharing it with a group of ps kids, parents and teachers. It was the "graduating" 6th grade class from a nearby school. I wasn't happy to see the park so full (M really struggles with loud, chaotic environments), but there was nothing to do but settle ourselves in an area as far from them as possible, and try to enjoy our day at the park.

The ps kids were being loud and rowdy, and I was happy to see that our kids (from the homeschool group) were sticking together pretty much, and behaving themselves despite of the craziness around them.

I was immediately struck with how "prematurely mature" some of those 6th graders were. They were going swimming after their picnic and some of the girls were walking around in very skimpy clothes, and there was a group of about 5-6 of them sitting at a table partially hidden behind a large bush... that appeared to be playing "spin the bottle".

How old ARE 6th graders? Aren't they only about 12?!

Anyway... the ps kids just kept getting louder and rowdier, and then one group started throwing cans of soda and bottles of water up and down the tube slide. Needless to say the cans and bottles were breaking open, and the slide was quickly becoming a wet sticky mess. The parents and teachers connected with this group were sitting about 25'-30' away...totally oblivious to what the kids were doing. Finally a couple of our moms went over and told the kids to stop, and went to the adults to let them know what the kids were doing. One of the adults came over to the slide. She was either a teacher or an aide with the school. While she was telling the kids they had to stop, and explaining why, she told them that they "were p___ing people off".

My mouth just about dropped open when I heard that. A ps "professional" using that kind of language when talking to students?! I have to admit that I really don't like "colorful" language. I don't allow swearing at my house, and I don't swear... So hearing how she talked to those kids was a shock to me.

Then... she turned to myself and the other moms from the homeschool group and thanked us for letting us know the kids were causing problems, because if we hadn't told them they "would have had no way of knowing". Huh? Was no one responsible for watching those kids? So anything goes in terms of behavior when you are 12, just as long as no one complains to the teacher??

And people complain that homeschoolers aren't well socialized?!

I could rant and rave about this for another page or two... but I won't... I know I'm preaching to the choir already. This experience was good for me though in a way, as a graphic reminder about just how bad the ps have gotten...even the "good" ones. It was also a good reminder about what incredible, awesome children my kids... and the others in our homeschool group... are. During all this chaos, they kept to themselves and played beautifully (and age appropriately!). There was one group of our younger kids, digging in the sand, working together to make a huge mountain (or a very deep hole, I wasn't sure which)... some of our girls were playing (house?) under the spreading boughs of a huge evergreen tree... and the older boys were over on the basketball court, playing ball and having a great time.

I left the park with a renewed appreciation for my kids, and for the positive influence that homeschooling has had on our lives. And I left saying little "thank you" prayers for the gift of having my kids home with me.