August 10th, 2007 @ 8:35 am
I’ve rattled around a fair amount on the internet looking for homeschoolers. What I’d love is to find a group of supportive, knowledgeable HSers to virtually hang with.
I’ve found some great people. I’ve also found lots of foam-at-the-mouth fundies.
On a home school message board I belong to, largely populated by Christians (most of whom are not like this), we had the following conversation, more or less:
OP: Are there secular resources out there?
Lots of secular comments follow
Fundie 1: I just want to share that Jesus told me to homeschool. Also that he said that the only way to Heaven was through him. And that I should wear more V necks. I’ll pray for God to help all of you (poor benighted fools).
Christians who use some secular curricula: We believe in stuff! We’re not heathens!
Me (silently): I don’t think you know what that word means.
Fundie 2: Love the Lord! You’re all gonna burn in hell!
Secular folk: Ya know guys, this is actually kinda rude.
Fundie 3: Wah! You’re persecuting us for talking about Jesus.
etc.
WHAT is WRONG with these people? Do they think I’m suddenly going to say, ‘hey, I’ve been a Goddess lovin’ pagan for over 20 years but now that these incredibly rude folks who can’t even quote their own holy book correctly have screamed at me, I want to be just like them?’
Guess what, folks, it ain’t gonna happen. Feel free to carry on making fools of yourselves, though.
*********
Just as a postscript, I want to add this–I call these folks foam-at-the-mouth fundies to distinguish them from other Christians of all sorts. Over the years I have met many people of many different stripes, including all manner of Christians, some of whom were fundamentalists. The vast majority of them are lovely people, many of whom remain close friends of mine. The mouth-frothing ones can be distinguished by their consistently obnoxious attempts to inflict their world view on the rest of us. A conservative Christian of any stripe might make their kid wear this to the pool: http://www.wholesomewear.com/page-4.html. The ones I object to want to force my kid to wear it too. I don’t like bossy people.
The upshot, though, was that I met some other secular home schoolers who are funny, smart, and nice. So maybe its a good thing that all this happened the way it did.
Life
said,
August 10, 2007 at 9:18 am
I used to despair of ever finding a decent homeschool group. There was, on one hand, groups that seemed to be about homeschooling in general, and when you mentioned a problem with your child’s schooling one to five people would argue vehemently that your problem could be solved by getting Biblical. On the other hand, there were groups that were supposed to be about homeschooling in general, but if you mentioned a problem you were having with your child’s homeschooling one to five people would argue vehemently that your problem could be solved by practicing radical unschooling and non-coercive parenting. Then I found homeschooljournal.net, which hosts Christians and NCPers but thankfully, no evangelists (that I have bumped into). I am glad I stumbled across your blog; I really appreciate your perspective.
said,
August 10, 2007 at 9:52 am
Omg! That swim suit! ROTFLOL! There is no group on Earth that could make me wear THAT!
said,
August 10, 2007 at 10:06 am
yeah, I *totally* feel your pain. I gave up on most mesage boards (especially homeschooling ones) a while ago. (Very liberal Chistian here, and I figure 99% of North America has heard of Jesus already, and can make up their own minds.)
Or maybe they didn’t realize they could, hmmm… I think here everyone just interacts through their blogs.
What about the education section of the mothering.com forums? The support forum here could be used for the same, except no one started.
Great, now I have an idea to put the most recent forum posts out where people can see them.
said,
August 10, 2007 at 12:30 pm
I kind of agree with Andrea. I’ve found the best online “support” through blogs I like. I’m also lucky to live in an area where there are a lot of really great homeschoolers. We’ve actually considered moving to be closer to family, but I can’t imagine homeschooling anywhere else but here.
Tina
said,
August 10, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Well, if it’s any consolation, I am a Christian, but I still have trouble finding good homeschool support.
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog! Hope you have a good school year. We are starting Aug. 20, so I have plenty of time left to panic!
said,
August 10, 2007 at 4:28 pm
I don’t have much to add to what the other commenters have said. I am a “liberal” Christian for lack of a better word. There are plenty of Christians out there who think it’s more important whether someone sees her higher power as a “God” or a “Goddess” than it is to practice Jesus’ message of unconditional love and acceptance. I try my level best to ignore all that.
We’ve been home schooling for about 4 years, and it took me a long time to find my “niche” in either my physical community or the virtual world. There are “holier than thou” believers of various stripes, and there are more “unschoolish than thou” folks who get judgmental if you don’t radically unschool or if you limit your kids’ video game time. I’ve sometimes wondered “where are all the BALANCED folks?” LOL
I am a member of several inclusive home school groups in this area. They include Christians, Pagans, Atheists, Agnostics, and so forth. They were started by friends of mine who got tired of searching for something like this, and went ahead and started it up themselves. *LOL*
Until you find a physical or virtual community that is a good fit for you, I hope you can find friendship and support through your blog. You are a terrific writer, and you have an amazing sense of humor. Lots of folks (like me) are going to pass through, get “hooked,” and want to stop and chat.
Good luck!
said,
August 11, 2007 at 5:22 am
Thanks everyone for taking the time and trouble to comment! I’m actually surprised to get so many replies, even on a ‘hot’ topic, because if no one is reading there is no controversy
There are annoying people in any grouping. It just so happens that the extremist Christians were the most recent ones to cheese me off. But I don’t care for being bossed around, so all the other folks who think their way of slicing an onion is the One True Right way bug me. If I liked that kind of treatment, I’d have stayed with my ex-boyfriend.
Andrea–I didn’t know there were forums here. I’ll have to take a look.
Not June Cleaver–I LOVE your name.
said,
August 19, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Thansk for the reading suggestions! I like your blog’s new theme.