"Go to your local public school, walk down the hallways and see what behaviors you would want your child to emulate."
-Manfred B. Zysk

This is the comic that started it all. Originally created for the "socialization" issue of a local newsletter called "Brainery", it quickly spread across the web. And it's held true for homeschoolers of all types -- traditional, unschooler, religious, secular, you name it. You can't plan something like that.

When I was in school, I was lucky (in this case) to be in the "gifted" class, which meant lots of individualized studies (which is how I believe all education should work). One project I remember involved minerals. My mother and I (and maybe my teacher, I forget) took a day off from school to go to a metalworking plant. We talked to the people who worked there, got to see liquid metal shaped into beams, and at the end, I was given a collection of a few dozen mineral samples I could put into a display case.

My memories of the event are vague (as is most of my childhood) because even though it was an independent study, it was still an assignment. Looking back now, I realize nothing would stop me from going and doing that again, simply because I want to. And my kids, being unschooled, will have that freedom, too. The freedom to talk to kids and adults of all ages, from all sorts of social backgrounds, who have chosen all sorts of careers. What better way to prepare for a future job than by talking to people actually DOING the job, rather than hearing about it from a teacher reading from a book?

Now and then I have discussions with people in forums about this sort of thing -- the old "there are certain things you learn in school that you can't learn anywhere else". And time and time again, I counter their arguements. A simple local yellow pages is usually enough, but with the web its even easier. Fifteen years ago I could have agreed with opponents of unschooling. But now? You can live in the middle of nowhere and if you have an internet connection, you can learn anything -- MIT and Berkeley even put their courses online now! You can chat with kids from around the world!

Most homeschoolers (except the occasional few the news media loves to harp on) wouldn't dream of locking their kids up indoors all day, secluding them from the rest of the world. Most of the ones I know are usually swamped with socialization activities, rather than lacking them. It's an old myth that needs to be laid to rest. Unless people are using the definition of "socialization" that means "knowing your place in the status quo" rather than "interacting with other people", then they're wrong. And if they really believe its all about learning who is above and below you and how you must behave, they can keep that "socialization". My kids will be free to find their own place in the world rather than be assigned one by your system, thank you very much.

Some have asked about the "bashing public school " part of the comic. For them, I've created an alternate version here using the first two panels. I know people home educate for various reasons. For me personally, I believe the schools are screwed up. Having worked for a curriculum development company and seen the inner workings of the school system, nothing would please me more than to see the system torn down and rebuilt from the ground up, this time focusing on the needs of the learner rather than the needs of corporations and governments.

So yeah, I'm all for giving folks a little slap in the face now and then if that's what it takes to wake them up. Schools as they are now are horrible places for kids. Schools are for fish.