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Home Schooled Students–Myths and Realities

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home schooled students

Let’s talk about the myths and realities of home school students, shall we?

Before I go any further, please understand that since this is MY blog, these are MY opinions based on MY experiences.  I am not an official spokes person for some home school association. So please read on if you enjoy and are enriched by another person’s perspective.

I have come to the conclusion that home schooled students are some of the most misunderstood and misrepresented young people in the country.

Now that I have taught them for nearly six years, I think I have a fairly good perspective on their lives and their parents’ goals.  Simply put, home schooled students are some of the nicest, most respectful and  brightest students I have taught in my thirty-five years of teaching.

Myth #1:   Home school students are socially awkward and not able to blend in with society.

Reality:  Because home school students are taught by their parents, have private tutoring or lessons (like piano, dance or learning to play an instrument) , learning in small peer groups or educated on-line, they are very comfortable with speaking to adults.

In fact, they may be more at ease chatting with an adult than talking with a peer.   That’s understandable, but learning to speak to your peers is a challenge for any young person.  I will give them some grace on this one.

woman between two childrens sitting on brown wooden bench during daytime

Myth #2:  Home school students have a heck of a life. They can stay up late and sleep in while public school students are slaving away in a crowded classroom.  Their family can take a trip on a moment’s notice and use their traveling to some exotic place as an impetus for learning.

Reality:  (This is a big one–the myth and the reality of it is one of the most surprising.) Yes, this is true. However, my students tell me that their parents have strict schedules for learning and summer isn’t a time for a three month vacation.  They are expected to learn in the summer and on many holidays, too.  Many of my students never miss a class with me.  Since one parent is home with the children, the family lives on the income of the other parent. That makes money tight. Several of my students never have a vacation or if they do, it is only to an extended family member’s home.

Myth #3:  They can’tChildren Studying, Book, Reading, Read, Culture read and write because no one makes them.

Reality:  Actually, I have found that home school students are avid readers and have read books that I have never even opened, I am embarrassed to say.  When I have asked them what their hobbies are, nearly every student shares that they love to read.  Writing is tough for any student.  If a student has limited time on a computer because they must share with other siblings, I am sure that the last thing they want to do is write an essay!  But isn’t that true of a lot of us?

Home Schooled Students–Myths and Realities

and finally...

Myth #4:  Because there are holes in their education (their parents pick and choose what their children learn and teach accordingly), home schooled students won’t be well rounded individuals.

Reality:  This is one I could argue for hours.  What is a “well rounded individual” anyway?  Someone that can speak on any subject (who can do that)? The life of a party? A person with a true understanding of life, society, history and the Arts?

Home school students are involved in many service organizations (like Scouts and church youth groups) and career exploration (through 4H, for example).  They are involved in their communities by volunteering at the public library or serving meals in a food bank.  Their interests and passions are endless.  I find them curious and focused. Plus, each state has curricular expectations and students can not graduate without fulfilling them.

It takes a while for a student who has come from public school to understand and appreciate the strengths of home schooling.  I would imagine that the same thing can be said if this was reversed.  What I most enjoy about home schooled students is their focus upon their family.  In the schools in which I teach, it is not unusual for me to teach an entire family in one day.

I could have Susie Jones in Creative Dramatics, then her brother Max in Intro. to Shakespeare and her twin sisters in Musical Theater.  They take care and watch out for each other (Max will pick up Susie’s sweatshirt she left behind in class and see that she gets it.)  I don’t see a lot of bickering amongst them.  I see a lot of smiles and hugs between siblings.  Everyone should have that. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Kids, Reading, Book, Child, Kids Reading, Cute

Have you home schooled your children?  What experiences have you had?  I’d love to hear from you.

Contact me at dhcbaldwin@gmail.com or DeborahBaldwin.net

Check out my Teacherspayteachers store for engaging, inspiring drama education products at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Dramamommaspeaks

Family-isms and ” Flag Dinners” 

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In my ‘Tween book, Bumbling Bea, I wanted to explore “family-isms”. Beatrice’s younger and only brother loves to name family dinners after flags.  No joke!  Edmund LOVES flags.  I didn’t even know there were people who studied flags.  I mean they are pretty cool and all that, but study flags for a living?

Boy, was I wrong! People who study the history, symbols and uses for flags are called vexiollogists. (I know, I had never heard of that, either). And…people who love flags just for the sheer fun of it are vexillophiles. (How do you pronounce that? Is the “x” silent or something?) That would be Edmund. Although Edmund is a fictional character, I bet he would own several tee shirts with flags printed on them.

 Knowing Edmund’s fervor for flags and that he is a ten year old boy (ten year old boys don’t care too much about how many times in a row they wear their favorites shirt), the shirts would be thread bare, frayed on the sleeves and really faded.  That is a boy’s dream.

But back to flag dinners.  Edmund names family dinners after flags because he thinks it’s funny and it sort of distracts him and Beatrice from whatever food their mother prepares.  Beatrice’s mom is a great lady, but not much of a cook.  On top of that, she is a vegan which the kids haven’t fully accepted.  Beatrice and Edmund are subjected to strange meals all the time.

My mom used to make strange meals, too.  I remember my mother feeding us black eye peas (yuck), brussel sprouts–the frozen kind (double yuck) , baked fish, beets and corn. In Edmund’s world, that’s a black/white/red /yellow/green flag or the flag of Zimbabwe.  Now isn’t saying, “It’s a Zimbabwe dinner” more fun than listing the food?  I think so, too.

The phrase “flag dinner” is what I call a “family-ism”.  You know, those are phrase or words your family uses for things.  For instance, some families have their own word for the paper covered wire ties that come with black garbage bags. You use them to tie up the bag?  We call them “twistie ties”.  What do you call yours?

There are lots of them. My family calls a poor theatrical production a “knee squeezer”. A  knee squeezer is a performance of a musical or play that isn’t very good.  We coined the phrase many years ago when my daughter and I were attending a play that was really weak.  It was a small theater and many people sitting around us knew us well.  We knew we couldn’t leave in the middle of the performance because everyone would see us cut out early, so we began squeezing each other’s knees when the play was dragging or someone would overact.  You get the idea.  So, now whenever we see a movie, play or musical that we don’t care for, we just say, “Boy, what a knee squeezer” and everyone understands.

How about you?  Here are some other family-isms.  Let’s see if you can figure out what they mean:

  • Eraser noogies
  • It’s soaking
  • Farewell party
  • No smokin’ on the tram
  • Don’t come back here

Let’s talk about Shakespeare next time.  He’s Michiko’s favorite playwright.

Contact me at dhcbaldwin@gmail.com or BumblingBea.com

Who is this Bumbling Bea’?

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Who is this Bumbling Bea’? I’m not talking about bees which are mean.  Duh.

I mentioned that I would explain about Bumbling Bea’ who is the title character of my book Bumbling Bea‘ (I know that’s repetitive but I do want you to read my book someday). I have taught and directed students of every age, but primarily my experience is with middle graders.

After thirty plus years of teaching them, they still fascinate me. Even though times have changed since I was thirteen years old (and boy, have they changed…) I can see myself in them when I was their age.

Bumbling Bea book

Primarily, a middle grade student has absolutely no idea what they are thinking, feeling or doing! That doesn’t mean they are just stumbling around in the world (although that happens, too when they are growing taller very quickly during this time). They are sort of floating around like a balloon that gets loose from the rest and bobs around in the air.  Have you ever watched other people as they observe a wayward balloon?  Everyone looks up at the escaped orb to see if it will pop. Usually, it doesn’t but fades away from us into the skies.

Middle graders are like that–they are full of ideas and thoughts, but if they don’t stay tethered to something or someone (like a sport, a hobby or their parents), they drift away from us, too.  And if you think about it, we watch them too, thinking “Man, that kid is going to do something stupid some day.  Look what they are doing now…” And we’re right.

Why do we know that?  We have all been thirteen years old at some point in our life.  You can’t escape it, you know?  I remember the summer of my seventh grade year when I grew taller and I was elated.  One day, I woke up skinnier! No, really. Considering I am of German/Scottish ancestry and kinda stocky (and always on some sort of diet), to have grown “skinnier” by growing an inch is nothing short of a miracle!

I thought that someone would surely notice the skinnier version of me and say something nice to me.  I pranced around, throwing my hair and trying to look very model-on the-runway-ish. Looking back at it now, I’m pretty sure no one said anything or even noticed.

Beatrice’s alter ego, Bumbling Bea’, controls her thoughts at many points in the book. She’s that voice that says things to you like, “What is So-and-So wearing?” or “Oh my gosh, that is so embarassing!” and for certain says, “I feel so dumb.”

I think that probably  we all have that voice in our heads that talks to us like the Tasmanian Devil from the Looney Toon Cartoons.  I love Tas’. In the cartoons, he appears out of nowhere spinning dust and debris everywhere.  Then he speaks to Bugs Bunny in his gravelly voice and whirls away again.  Remember?

Except the difference between Tas’ and Bumbling Bea’ is that BB isn’t a cartoon character that you can turn off on the television.  Bumbling Bea’ speaks in all of us except by a different name–maybe you hear your mother’s voice or your own a little softer in volume.  Whatever.

As you age and experience things in life,  (and I pray it’s true for you as it is for me) you have learned to keep that voice quiet–most of the time.

But middle school students are so busy bobbing around in the air, they don’t even realize their own Meanie Bea’ blurted something really thoughtless, sarcastic, hateful or totally off the subject–way out in the solar system.

For instance, you are having a really bad hair day (in my case, that was a lot of days) and your mom asks you to empty the dish washer for her.

You look at her and cry,”You just hate my hair this way, don’t you?” and stomp out of the kitchen. In your world, you think she has been staring at your hair all through dinner and that makes her pick on you to empty the dish washer for her.Huh?

That’s what Bumbling Bea’ is about–an eighth grade girl just trying to make sense of her world and those around her. Her greatest challenge is a girl named Michiko who is a visiting student from Japan. Michiko is just as obsessed with herself as Beatrice.

The difference between the two girls?  Michiko is a fanatic about Kabuki Theater and wants desperately to perform Kabuki, some day taking the place of her ailing uncle who is a celebrated Kabuki actor. Beatrice just wants to play the leading role of Pocahontas in the school play because she thinks it will give her instant popularity which she craves (or atleast she thinks that’s what she desires.)

So, who wins the role of Pocahontas? You’ll just have to check out my blog soon and find out.

Please comment if you’d like.  That is what makes this blogging thing worthwhile.  Thanks!

Kabukiza Theater re-opens and Michiko attends!

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Kabukiza theater

Okay, that statement isn’t really true.  The beloved Kabukiza Theater has re-opened after a huge renovation but Michiko didn’t really attend.  She is a fictional character from my book, Bumbling Bea’. However, if she could, Michiko would be there along with the thousands of other lovers of Kabuki Theater. I bet she would be first in line!

I don’t know if you know this, but Kabuki Theater is a really old style of theater in Japan.  It dates back to 1600s.

In the beginning, women played the roles.  It was very popular (kind of like Shakespeare and his plays) and people of all walks of life attended. But many of the women who performed in the Kabuki were…shall we say, “ladies of the night” and the government thought that it was inappropriate for them to be such a public sensation.

The men took over the roles and that’s how it has been performed since then. Figures…

The stories dramatized through Kabuki were very elaborate (like fairy tales or myths) and included male and female characters. The men portrayed everything from dragons to women’s roles.  You should see them! They are amazing.

So this “Michiko girl” as Beatrice first calls her– what’s the deal with her?  Whenever Michiko is in a play, she tries to put Kabuki theater into the show. You might say she is obsessed with it! Why is she so crazy about it?  Michiko wants to keep the family business alive.

Michiko’s uncle is a celebrated Onegata actor in the Kabuki.  Traditionally, when someone performs Kabuki Theater they have inherited their part from a family member.  Usually, Kabuki is passed from one family generation to the next. Except in Michiko’s family, there is no male in which to pass the art form.  (It is at this point that Michiko would stand up and say, “I will play the part! I want to be a Kabuki actor!”)

Things are a little more complicated than that, however.  Michiko and her mother argue a lot in the book. It isn’t for the usual reasons, though (like staying up late on a school night or going to the mall with friends).

They argue about BIG things. Michiko’s mother thinks performing in theater is frivolous and a waste of Michiko’s time. She wants Michiko to study more intellectual pursuits, like music and science. Michiko has two challenges:  wanting to perform in a theater that doesn’t include women and trying to follow her own dreams and not her mother’s.

Before you think you know all about my book, I must inform you:  Bumbling Bea isn’t just about Kabuki Theater.  In fact, it is only one part of my book. Next I’ll tell you about Flag Dinners.  Yes, you read that right. 🙂

Kabukiza theater