Monday, September 26, 2011

Homeschool Bennies #17

Time = Influence, and we have the time.

I mentioned earlier that we were fortunate when our kids were in public school to live close enough to walk.  Except for a few months when we were remodeling and stayed with my parents.  At that time we put Wyatt and Tate on a school bus at about 8:15am and Wyatt wasn't home until 4:15.  That's eight hours away from home.  Now my kids are early risers, up by seven.  And at that time we had an 8pm bed time.  (There's a point to this, I promise.) 

Do the math.  They were spending more waking hours with their peers than with us.  Which is true for the majority of kids in public schools, especially the kids that have before and/or after school care, and there are a lot of them.  When I walked the boys to and from school there were always lots of kids there early for childcare and breakfast, and even more kids there for after-school daycare.  Which is a whole separate issue, I know.

But the point is, the average American child in state schools is spending more waking time with their peers than their parents.  And I think we see the fruit of that.

Not.  My.  Kids.

3 comments:

Felicity said...

Same problem here in SA!! I'm quite happy mine are with me almost all the time!!

leah said...

This is the thing that causes me the most stress. I am appreciative of the fact that the area we live in has pretty good values. Most of the time. But the pressure to assimilate into the "cool" kid pressure, and the pushiness of bullies worries me.

The days are insanely long for elementary schoolers.

The dB family said...

Yes, one (of several) thing(s) that irk me about having them in school. Their bus ride is shorter this year, but still... I wish that I could be confident I would have, the energy, patience and drive to homeschool, but it's just not there this year. Too many changes lately I guess.

Blessings!
Deborah