Homeschooling Families are Growing

Recently I saw the following headline at the bottom front page of USA Today, "Profound shift in kind of families who are home schooling their children". As I read through, it confirmed what I've seen on a local level, more families, especially, white, wealthy (who is really wealthy anymore?), and well-educated families are moving towards homeschooling. I think that this reflects people deciding to take ownership of what happens to their families as their confidence grows in making decisions who impacts their children.

In the article it cites various reasons families choose to homeschool; religious, educational, physical, and emotional reasons. It's interesting to see that the number of girls homeschooling has grown due to the increased focus and attention on the "mean girls" experience in a social setting. The fact that families are stepping in is fantastic.

I am not sure at what point in our nation's history it became expected and accepted that teens learn how to behave from other teens, which is exactly what happens in a typical high-school setting, rather than watching various ages model acceptable behavior. Parents usually only "hope" that the training they've provided up to that point will persevere in difficult situations. Keep those fingers crossed as research shows that the teenage brain is not fully developed, sometime, until a person (especially those guys) reaches the age of 25 years old!

To all of those who are considering homeschooling but are afraid that they can't do it...try. What do we tell our children when they are afraid to try something new? Try and do your best.

For a great read into the teen brain check out, The Myth of Maturity: What Teenagers Need from Parents to Become Adults by Terri Apter.

Teenage Liberation Handbook

For a good resource that is open to exploring options outside of the classroom, traditional homeschool, or anything else you may have heard of, check out this book by Grace Llewellyn.

My Teenager is Perfect!

I want to shout it to the world - My Teenager is Perfect!!

Okay, don't shut down your computer yet because I need to explain how "perfectly normal" my teenager is...he does not always understand what we tell him even when we speak in English, he needs to be reminded repeatedly to do things and then gets annoyed and insulted that we would even think that we would have to ask him twice, he likes to stand in front of the refrigerator with the door open, he thinks there is nothing out of the ordinary about farting loudly and expecting us to ooh and aah at his latest accomplishment, he can't believe that we can't easily see and marvel over the same armpit hair that is so obvious to him, he conveniently goes into hiding when he knows that chores need to be done, he is under the impression that putting his clothes away consists of taking his folded clothes, unfolding them, and randomly arranging them throughout his room, he believes that his younger brother loves it when he picks on him, makes him upset, and then creatively makes him out to be the instigator, and then there are those times that he gets moody and likes to sulk - but not without an audience! I've been told that these behaviors are "perfectly normal" for a teenager.

I have always loved the Zits comic strip. It used to be that I related to the teenager...now I relate to the parents...AAARRRGGG!!

There was the day he made the comment that he didn't think he was cut out for college. This was met with some sincere curiosity where we thought perhaps he was really thinking about what he'd like to do with his life and that perhaps it didn't involve higher education. Wow, tell us more...

But then we soon found out that there was some ill-conceived and logistical timing to it...shortly after this comment was made his mid-terms came out and we found out why he didn't think he was cut out for college...we helped him change his mind.

What's a mother to do? 

Google it! 

I know that doing "the google" is not as researched based as Proquest or what nots but I don't have time. 

So, like I said before, I google it; "teenagers, insanity, abnormal behavior" and what I keep finding over and over is that all of these behaviors are "perfectly normal". 

Basically between childhood and adulthood the brain’s “wiring diagram ” becomes more complex and more efficient, especially in the brain’s prefrontal cortex. In the meantime the body is busy focusing on physical growth.

The greatest changes to the parts of the brain that are responsible for impulse-control, judgement, decision-making, planning, organization and involved in other functions like emotion, occur in adolescence. This area of the brain (prefrontal cortex) does not reach full maturity until around age 25! 

Perhaps you have a perfect teenager too!