Unschooling friends

As the school year approaches the issue of homeschooling becomes more apparent in our lives. Neighbors and shop keepers ask P if he's excited for school, his once free friends prepare themselves for a big change, the parenting board is buzzing with class questions and P, well, P is more adamant than ever that he will NOT be attending anything brick and mortar :)

So yesterday we played the "school game." P adores chatting with adults (other kids be damned) about food, scooting, Brooklyn, sharks, you get the idea. But pointed questions freeze him up. The kid does Not like to be put on the spot :) And to be put on the spot by an insinuating school bound question forces out the inner fierce in P. "Never!" he roars.

So I pretended to be different adults (a great reason to brush off my Scottish or Brooklyn accents) quizzing P about his school plans. (He loves any variation of this game, he can chat with different adults while feeling fairly safe. The funny thing is, if he's asked a question he can't answer he calls for me, asks me the question (as if I really hadn't been there) and then goes back and answers the "stranger." Yup, that's one solid Scottish accent people!) ) As the game continued his defensively gruff responses eventually relaxed into interesting insights like "I don't go to school. I homeschool. (cute shrug and raised palms) I just, you know, learn from life!" Pretty soon he was informing strangers (er, me) about how his brain works and what he likes to learn. I even asked the tough question put forth by everyone looking out for my kid: "What about socialization, little boy?" He looked at me like I was an idiot. "I've already got friends. Lots of friends!! I just, ya know, go to their house or the park or the museum..." Case closed :)

So in this time of turmoil :) its fantastic to have close unschooling friends for P so he doesn't feel lost afloat amongst the school-goers. Odd 3 year old out. On the flip-side, I read an interesting article about homogenized homeschooling recently that took some home schoolers to task for their separatist attitudes. The author, a retired midwife, bemoans the current cultural transition that's leading to a highly critical parenting atmosphere; one where everyone's birth, feeding and schooling choices are up for public consumption and correction. I loved her perspective. In a day of blogs and reality(ish) telly, everyone's in on everyone else's business.

Fortunately, P doesn't care who goes to school and who doesn't, as long as he's in the "doesn't" category :) But in general, he's quite positive of his opinions, that he is Right. When a choice is made in our family P seems to sense an inherent superiority in our direction. We choose A, not B, therefore A Must be better. So we'll walk towards this period in his life, hopefully helping to keep any separatist, superiority complexes at bay :) At least there's always issue free BB....

(I love how carefully he removes BB's stroller straps in this video, taking him out so that he wouldn't get too dirty in the mucky water .... and then chucks him to the ground.