I consider myself to be an anarchist.
Before that makes you worried, let me assure you that I consider myself to be a kind and gentle sort of anarchist. I am a social anarchist, a person who believes that it is the responsibility of individuals and groups in communities to come together to help each other, not necessarily the responsibility of government. This has led to a life full of wonderful activities and many different communities.
I also believe that homeschoolers as a group tend to be somewhat anarchic. Home learning is bucking the overall system, after all. It’s making a choice to follow your family’s own desires in learning rather than those of government. To do this well and easily, I think that you also need to give to a community and be supported by a community.
After all, other learners have their own communities. School is its own community. That is one of the attractions of school, and it is also one of its drawbacks. It’s a powerful community with its own culture, one that you may or may not completely subscribe to.
There are many communities outside of school, of course. There is church, service groups, and sports groups, to name a few. Life also provides us with many opportunities to create community where we are, out of the people we know and the people that they know.
In the next week, I’ll be exploring ways that unsocialized homeschoolers (said with tongue firmly in cheek) become part of communities, and why these communities are valuable for you and your children. Of any learning topic, this is probably one that is most dear to my heart. As we near the season when everyone turns to family and thinks about helping in their own community, I challenge you and your children to plan to build your community in the new year and beyond.
Image credit: Lusi