I have been immersed in the home school community for several years now, so I often forget about the objections people have to homeschooling.
Last night my "unsocialized and poorly educated"children (ages 4 and 6 by the way) participated in a Geo/Science Fair with a group of 25 or so other children from our Classical Conversations community. Any adult could have walked into that room and seen first hand just how "unsocialized and poorly educated" these children were NOT! That small church building was bustling with activity. The display boards were incredibly well done. Some families did one project with everyone giving a helping hand. Other families had each child create their own board in their own simple handwriting. There were close to twenty boards ranging from displays about Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, The Aztecs The Mayans, Turkey, and China to topics like Gardening and the types of seeds and flowers, the tallest mountains on each continent, the Earth and all it's different parts (from the core to the exosphere), and the types of vertebrates. Each display was incredibly well done and suited the child or family quite well. Most of the children stood at their own display for some time and explained their board to other children and adults as they passed by.
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| These two were about the parts of the earth and volcanoes. |
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| Obviously, this one was on Egypt |
Nicole and Hannah displayed their projects from our study on the oceans. They created a model of the ocean floor (inside a shoe box). This included the beach, continental shelf, continental slope, abyssal plains, mountain ranges, ridges, islands and guyot. They also made a display about the 3 Ocean Zones: Photic, Bathyl and Abyssal (
this is where we got the idea).
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| One mom made these Keys to Learning for each child. They had their key stamped as they went to each display booth. It motivated the children to check out everyone's hard work. |
Nicole and Hannah had to take turn sitting at the display to share what they had learned.
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| Nicole is explaining the Ocean Zones to a friend. |
They also enjoyed walking around and learning about what their friends had been studying.
I wish every adult who questions homeschooling could have come out last night. They would not have seen what they may have expected. They would have seen children who were well educated, could clearly communicate what they had learned and who could speak clearly while looking an adult in the eyes (something missing from most children and pre-teens these days). To think that there were children as young as Hannah, 4 years old, participating in something children may not do until their middle school years (if at all) is a testament to the work that families who home school put into their children's lives.
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| Adults and children sampling Turkish Delight and Turkish cotton candy to better experience the Turkey booth. Before you left, you had to have the customary Turkish oil placed on your hands. |
I am proud that my children had a great experience last night and I am proud of the community of homeschoolers that we are a part of. Such wonderful families who invest time, money and great sacrifice to educate their children in the best way they know how. It shows! These kids are not awkward. They are not unsocialized. They are not uneducated. They are exposed to different cultures (yes, we learned about Greek and Roman gods, Egyptian gods, Islam in Turkey, etc.). They are exposed to scientific ideas (Geology, the parts of the Earth, seeds and plants, etc.). Children were running everywhere, not just playing and talking with kids their own age, but talking and playing with children older and younger than themselves. That's what homeschoolers do. They get used to being around different ages, different genders and different cultures. It's great fun! I am thankful for the opportunity to educate my children at home and grateful for the opportunities like last night's Geo/Science Fair to share with others.
