An Unfinished Opinion

Today's guest post is from Dan, at All That Comes With It. He's a dad blogger from the north of England, where he works as a community mental health nurse (I think that means he chases after people with a giant butterfly net). In his spare time, he walks a lot, takes beautiful photos, drinks Diet Coke by the barrel, and manages the Huddersfield Chives (which is either a new boy band or an imaginary football team). Best of all, Dan is funny, generous, and kind, all of which shows through in his posts about family life in rural England.


An Unfinished Opinion On Homeschooling
by Dan Hughes, All That Comes With It

The comedian Daniel Kitson once said that an opinion is something that you reach when you decide that you can't be bothered thinking about an issue any more.

He's right too. Or at least I think he is, to be honest I was so taken with the idea that I didn't bother trying to think of any alternatives.

And that to me has always been my main concern about homeschooling. The lack of different perspectives, different thought processes. We've all seen those documentaries about homeschooling parents driving seven shades of nonsense into their children's heads. Evolution is a myth, the white man is superior to all other races, football is actually called "soccer"; all that sort of guff.

Of course I'm not saying Phil is one of those wackos. He's an eminently sensible chap who just wants the best for his kids. In fact I've actually had a conversation with Phil about my reservations before. While I can't remember exactly how he responded, I do remember that what he said made a lot of sense.

Ultimately it boils down to this. I respect and admire the majority of homeschoolers for what they do, but I'm not sure I'd choose to do it myself. Above anything else I don't think my knowledge base is wide enough. Sure I could give a pretty riveting lesson on the top ten Batman villains, or the responsible use of Diet Coke as an IV drug. But ask me about algebra or the War of the Roses and all you'd get would be a blank look and a whiff of the scent of fear.

My own daughter started school for the first time last week. And while my feelings surrounding the event are bittersweet to say the least, I am optimistic that her experience will be a positive one. Of course I say that in the knowledge she is going to a rural school where the average class size is just 14 children. What I'd be thinking if she were starting her educational career in an deprived urban environment with 35+ pupils per class would probably be a little different.

Certainly I have some pretty major issues with the educational system. The constant barrage of testing for no reason other than to move the school up or down a league table, compulsory French lessons in a world that speaks English, and the setting of homework that bears no real educational value. Bullying, indifference, the loss of individuality within a system that values cold results over process. I can see why people opt out.

In conclusion there is no conclusion. I have no point to this meandering ramble of a post. There is no proclamation that homeschooling is a good or a bad thing. No criticism or an endorsement. This post is merely the blathering of a man abusing the hospitality of a friend to thrash out his thoughts on a subject. A subject he is still hasn't finished thinking about. A subject he has yet to form an opinion on.


Check out All That Comes With It for more of Dan's unfinished opinions on parenting and life in general.