People often ask why we homeschool. This morning, as we were walking home (my son was riding his RipStik) from the eye doctor and subsequent errands, my son asked if he could go on ahead to the park and wait for me there. "Sure. Yes. Good idea. I'll just get the meat for dinner and will catch up with you in a couple minutes." But then, as I was back on the sidewalk I was gripped by a sudden nervousness that a cop would see him and begin to question him about why he "wasn't in school." He's 11, and although he possesses the self-assuredness to look a grownup in the eye and converse with confidence, I wasn't certain how he'd do if confronted by a hulking police officer.
This got me musing on the terminology "Truant", "Truant Officer ". Why on earth do they need an Officer to enforce school attendance? Why is it important? What if a child just wanted to be home on a particular day? School really is like jail and they've confirmed it with their own semantics. There is a reason children feel that oppressive heaviness of "being in school." I believe this feeling would change dramatically if children were allowed to go in and out of school at will....at least in the presence of their parent or guardian. This is not the present case. During a brief time when my son was in school, he'd (not surprisingly) gotten a fever sore throat and stomach ache. I kept him home for two days but on the third day was faced with either a trip into the city to see the doctor for a note, or sending him back to school prematurely...or disciplinary action. Sheesh! Where does my free will as a reasoning, thinking adult come into play?
So, why do we homeschool? For Freedom. For Free Will. For the opportunity for my son to learn to act responsibly from the deep place of honor, integrity and conscience within his Soul, rather than because this is what "they" say you must do.
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