My daughters are members of a choral group comprised solely of homeschooled children taught by a homeschooling mother of three whose previous life as a college professor of theatre arts equips her well for the job.
They, along with the students in their teacher's acting and beginning ballet classes, performed in a recital tonight before a packed house. Music, movement, drama with a decidely moral message -- the evening had it all.
Looking around the large gymnasium at the families of these kids, I was struck by how, well, normal they -- we -- all seem to be. I saw families from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, some driving expensive cars, others driving older models that could use some sprucing up. They live up and down the socioeconomic spectrum. Some have only one child, some three or four, some many more than that.
A lot of us don't know each other and that in and of itself is surprisingly refreshing. It means that homeschooling is not for a select few, a small group of people whose association is almost incestuous in its exclusivity. No, self-directed learning has definitely gone mainstream and I think that's fantastic.
The young, the old, the in-between. Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and friends of the family. All of us, in one place to watch an hour's worth of artistic endeavor.
All of us, each of us, having made the decision to create for our children a life apart. And deciding to do it TOGETHER.
The oft-heard criticism that children taught at home are being deprived of life in The World never seemed more ludicrous.
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