Sudbury Schools

[Adam Thorsen]

I've got a 7 month old, so I won't have to be seriously thinking about
school for her for a while, but have been anyway (lots of time to
think early in the morning after the 1st or 2nd wakeup :) ).

One kind of school that really interests me is Sudbury Schools. On
the surface it seems like a great way for my daughter to get a lot
more out of years 5-18 than I was able to.

Actually the idea of starting a Sudbury school or working at one seems
really appealing to me right now. Does anyone have any experience
with them or know anything about them?

-Adam

[Joël Franusic]

I don't have experience with Sudbury School, but I was home-schooled for my entire life. So if people want to know how homeschooled kids end up, I'd be happy to share my experiences.

--Joel

[Peter Van Dijck]

So how do they end up?

Peter

2011/5/12 Joël Franusic <jo...@franusic.com>

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http://petervandijck.com/ 

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[Adam Thorsen]

Do tell Joel!

(Wow I haven't been to SHDH in a long time! Cool to see you on this
list)

On May 12, 3:34 pm, Joël Franusic <j...@franusic.com> wrote:
> I don't have experience with Sudbury School, but I was home-schooled for my
> entire life. So if people want to know how homeschooled kids end up, I'd be
> happy to share my experiences.
>
> --Joel
>

[Jonathan Keel]

I would be interested in how home-schooled kids end up (from your perspective Joel).  My wife and I are home schooling our two eldest right now (first year doing so).  We have 2 younger ones as well that haven't started homeschooling yet. So far it seems great but I do worry about socialization. We are keeping them involved in other activities for that though (cub scouts and girl scouts for example).

[Joël Franusic]

Being homeschooled wasn't without difficulty. That said, I ended up doing work that I love, leading quite an interesting and fulfilling life.

I have quite a lot to say on the topic of education in general and homeschooling specifically. Rather than write a book for this list, let me start with some very high level opinions. If people are interested in specific areas of homeschooling or want to know more about my experience: Ask! - I'll be happy to follow up.

The Good:

I believe that being homeschooled taught me how to stay creative and gave me a great set of tools for creating value in world of ever-increasing change. I'm also very happy that I haven't fallen into the trap of doing what everybody else is doing.

The Bad:

Growing up, I had to deal with a lot of questions about homeschooling. The questions ranged from innocent curiosity to outright fear-mongering. It got so bad at times that I started to doubt myself.

--Joel

[Joël Franusic]

Your kids will be totally fine!

A lot of homeschooled girls I knew asked their parents to participate in a traditional school when they got to be older. So, that might happen to you.

When someone asks you about "socialization", I think you'll find that one or more of the following will apply to the person in question:

• They can't deal with kids that are polite, well spoken, have firm handshakes and look you in the eye when the speak to you.
• They are actually talking about institutionalized hazing and they think emotional and/or physical abuse is something that everybody should suffer through before they enter adulthood.

[Joël Franusic]

I should mention almost everybody has a very strong opinion about socialization. I'm no exception and I'm not convinced that I'm right. 

While some people are having a very heated discussion about socialization, others are standing awkwardly in the corner wondering if maybe they went to the wrong party.

I'll be the first to admit that homeschooled kids are "different". I just think that being different is a good thing? Why would you be homeschooling if you didn't want your kids to be different?

2011/5/16 Joël Franusic <jo...@franusic.com>

[Jonathan Keel]

Thanks for the info.  In this first year of our experiment with homeschooling I've noticed my children's creativity and language skills shoot through the roof. A lot of credit goes to my wife who gives all she can (and then some) to educating them while I'm at work during the day.