A Couple News Items

These are old, but I had saved them to put up on my blog, so thought I would anyway. I don't usually go looking for articles about homeschooling. We are happy with our decision to homeschool and don't feel that we need the "world's" approval. But occasionally I'll read news articles that are not specifically about homeschooling, but that reaffirm our decision that homeschool is best for our family. That's what these are.

The first is "Why Family Meals Matter"
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/family/11/07/cl.family.meals/
Hidden down in the next-to-last paragraph is the following:

Eating together also helps socialization. "The dining table is where children get their parents' undivided attention, learn manners and how to behave positively in a group," Satter says.

As everyone knows, socialization is THE most-used reason for why homeschooling is bad. I confess as a new homeschooler it was also my biggest concern. But this is a specific quote, from a purely objective source, showing socialization does not have to be learned in school. It actually can be learned at home.

The second article is about teenagers and sleep.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/12/12/sleep.teenagers.school/
I don't have teenagers yet of course, but it won't be long. Here's a snippet from this article:

Teenagers need eight to 10 hours of sleep, compared with the six to eight hours recommended for adults.

Sleep deprivation can compromise immune systems, ruin moods and decrease focus, said the lead author, Dr. Fred Danner.

Based on years of teenage sleep research, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is encouraging districts to start high schools later.

Going to bed earlier is not effective, because a teenager's melatonin levels, hypothalamus and internal clock are changing during puberty. "Teenagers are going through physiological changes that make it physically difficult to fall asleep before 11," Croft said.

The very next sentence says, "Constant text messaging, Web surfing and digital distractions could also be keeping teenagers up into the wee hours of the night." So, I won't disagree that teenagers probably just need a little stricter discipline. But, that aside, homeschool allows us to make our own schedule, so everybody can get the sleep they need. Even now, without teenagers, we have a later start time in the morning than public schools. The kids stay up later at night, but they also get to see John more in the evening than if I was putting them to bed at 8:00 so they could get up early for school. Turns out, this isn't just convenient, but important for their health and concentration.