Jay-Jay,

One of my fellow Aikidoka (people who train in the Japanese martial art of Aikido) is a home schooled 12 year old and no she's not crazy.

No problem.  Yes, it was quite an eye opener for me.  I've met both her parents and they are not crazy loonies that I can tell.  granted I know her father more than her mother, but I doubt loonies fundies would let their kid practice a Japanese martial art.  In fact I could see crazy fundies thinking martial arts were evil devil worshiping cults 

Jen

Looking back to the conversation above about schooling … I twigged very early on that school was about little more than social conditioning. Moving about to the sound of a bell. I grew up in an industrial area and some of my first jobs were in industrial settings.

My school days taught me well … bell … break … bell … dinner … bell … home.

I actually had a very good schooling with a number of very strong and memorable teachers. I learned a lot and much of what I learned there I continue to apply in my daily life – a confidence to speak, an ability to write with a good grasp of English, an ability to quickly calculate in my head, the list goes on.

I look at what kids are learning today and despair. I heard on the radio the other day that our Education Minister (who is an absolute prick, BTW … Michael Gove, look him up. Pob?) considers spelling a thing of past since we all have spell checkers now. Okay, the calculator put pay to being able to calculate in your head, but come on …

I despair.

In February, I will be a Grandfather to a hopefully fit, healthy and beautiful Granddaughter. Whatever her schooling, she will learn a lot from me, and it will be fun. I have nothing but the absolute respect for home schoolers – you guys keep doing that and we'll be all the better for it as a species, having strong, free thinkers in our midst. We need them.

I'm wondering how I can duck out of working to become a full time teacher to one new life.