Always enjoy your thoughts, Abby, as we continue the theme of you all just a few steps of us in the parenting journey. Robert will start Kindergarten next fall and I've been thinking through all of these things. Taking note and thinking alongside you all! We haven't fully decided what we will do either.
I'm particularly interested in your homeschool thoughts! The entire Farson clan are some of the most "normal" homeschoolers and fascinating people I've met.
With regard homeschool boys potentially being more affected than girls - I wonder if girls have a strong innate social awareness that does not come as intuitively to the male sex which gives girls a leg up when they're removed from the daily peer dynamics of a formal school environment ...
Very curious why you say homeschooled boys in particular turn out weird? (except your brother, of course.) Do girls have sort of immunity that boys don’t?
Also great teaser at the end - would love to hear your theory, and hoping someone else can take care of the Pinot Noir request to make it happen
Thanks, David! I need to develop this theory more strongly to see if it holds water; it's based on lived experience. My first guess is that boys (especially late elementary and up) need to do more of that agency-building/jockeying for position that can only be done in big groups of boys -- which doesn't easily happen in homeschool environments, because they're more isolated by design.
I'm wondering if any of these homeschooled boys went to a sleep-away summer camp? I went to camp starting at the age of 9, and then ended up working as a counsellor later. Camps have different vibe than schools, which are more institutional, whereas camps are usually organized around a religion or principle (discover the Great Outdoors!) and have a more temporary, experimental feeling, because everyone knows this is not everyday life and it will all be over soon, so you often have a chance to try on being a different person.
Anyways, that really got me thinking! Ready to hear your theory whenever it's closer to fully baked :)
Always enjoy your thoughts, Abby, as we continue the theme of you all just a few steps of us in the parenting journey. Robert will start Kindergarten next fall and I've been thinking through all of these things. Taking note and thinking alongside you all! We haven't fully decided what we will do either.
I'm particularly interested in your homeschool thoughts! The entire Farson clan are some of the most "normal" homeschoolers and fascinating people I've met.
With regard homeschool boys potentially being more affected than girls - I wonder if girls have a strong innate social awareness that does not come as intuitively to the male sex which gives girls a leg up when they're removed from the daily peer dynamics of a formal school environment ...
Wow, fascinating.
Very curious why you say homeschooled boys in particular turn out weird? (except your brother, of course.) Do girls have sort of immunity that boys don’t?
Also great teaser at the end - would love to hear your theory, and hoping someone else can take care of the Pinot Noir request to make it happen
Thanks, David! I need to develop this theory more strongly to see if it holds water; it's based on lived experience. My first guess is that boys (especially late elementary and up) need to do more of that agency-building/jockeying for position that can only be done in big groups of boys -- which doesn't easily happen in homeschool environments, because they're more isolated by design.
Interesting take!
I'm wondering if any of these homeschooled boys went to a sleep-away summer camp? I went to camp starting at the age of 9, and then ended up working as a counsellor later. Camps have different vibe than schools, which are more institutional, whereas camps are usually organized around a religion or principle (discover the Great Outdoors!) and have a more temporary, experimental feeling, because everyone knows this is not everyday life and it will all be over soon, so you often have a chance to try on being a different person.
Anyways, that really got me thinking! Ready to hear your theory whenever it's closer to fully baked :)
Have you read Hold Onto Your Kids?
I have not!
It may interest you. Some overlap with what you say here.