Fav quotes from "Real-Life Homeschooling"

From "Real-Life Homeschooling - The stories of 21 families who teach their children at home", by Rhonda Barfield.

This is a quote from Kristin (age 23), the eldest of 3 kids whose family home educates because it fits best with their lifestyle and their ideas of what being human all about. They have no formal religious or faith structures, and practice 'unschooling'. Kristin no longer lives at home, but works as a Zookeeper, and is responsible not only for animals but for other staff, as well as the supervision and training of volunteers.

"I went to public school up until fourth grade," she says. "Fifth through eighth, I was homeschooled, then decided I wanted to go back to high school to be a 'big girl.' I quickly realised that was the wrong decision, but in the long run it has given me a good perspective on homeschool versus traditional school." Kristin thinks that school forces children to choose between conforming to the norm, acting like a bully, or being shy. "By the time they are ready to make friends outside the family unit, in the neighborhood, or through other activities, homeschool children are already comfortable with being themselves," she says. "At home, a close family like ours knows who you are and loves you anyway. That builds a strong base of confidence, which makes it easier to say no to the things you don't want to do and yes to the things you do."

And another piece which really struck me was the 'best advice' and 'worst advice' opinion of Lynda, a woman who has Wiyot Indian ancestry (who herself insisted that she preferred 'Indian' to 'Native American') and homeschools one of her sons, some of her grandchildren and a foster son who spends time with them as the need arises.

Best advice: "Believe because you do know," from Lynda's grandfather. "Follow what you think you know because you really do know it. Go with your gut feeling."

Worst advice: 'They' - the doctors, the schools, the politicians - know best