Wednesday 10 March 2010

Thank you, Baroness Deech!

Hey! People who send your kids to school! Pop round to home ed land and have a laugh!

You know that we minority of parents - the mouthy ones who choose otherwise than school for our kid's education - already put up with a lot of head shaking, disbelief and nonsense, don't you?

Like from the mother-in-law who's never done it but doesn't approve of home education. The best friend who says we're mad. The teenager at the florist with the NVQ who says school never did her any harm. Maureen at the pound shop who says you have to be a teacher. The little kid who says it can't be true! Now he's telling his mam because she says you have to go to school, it's the law.

But take a gander at the latest.

Baroness Deech. She's in the Lords, and she's just found out some stuff about all us little people who live in the UK.

Like did you know there are some children in this country who are educated out of school? My goodness. She's going to put that right. These poor children are being experimented on. They have parents who care not a jot for their child's rights or welfare.

Well she has a few solutions. All home educators should be visited. Every few months, and no messing about. There should be spot checks, physics, and interviews. Tinkertop aged 5 should be questioned by the school inspector. Tinkertop should not be allowed to have her mummy there. And if Tinkertop is frightened by the strange man asking questions about physics then how suspicious is that? Now there was nothing wrong with Germany making home education illegal. And shut up about it being a Nazi law to prevent children escaping the propaganda in the classroom. We don't want to hear any of that nonsense, thank you very much.

Baroness! I was joking when I said I tied Shark, Squirrel and Tiger to the radiator and poked them with fish! Did you think I meant it, love?

But it's too late, because Baroness Deech is now going to speak up for the rights of Shark, Squirrel and Tiger! She is their champion!

Well, Baroness Deech, I'll let them know your thoughts. And thank you from me, for providing me with enough material to last the year.

Fellow home educators, Grit finds this is really very positive. Because our bad speling and grammer obviously got to her. She has now to defend a position that she'll find very difficult to defend. I'm counting that as a great success. (And won't it make for great entertainment?)

Now wander about in home ed land, here, here and here.

6 comments:

MadameSmokinGun said...

I know ONE person who was against us home educating. Plenty who thought (probably still think) we're 'MAD'. Most say things like 'You're so brave' (which is the same as the ones who think we're MAD but more polite). And everyone we've met since who's asked the usual 'No school today then?' has finished the conversation with well-wishes or wishes that 'my daughter/grand-daughter' etc would do the same. All 'normal' lovely everyday people from all walks (scum like me to super-posh) - all perfectly cheery and supportive.

Where do these Daily Mail types actually come from? What's with this mental Deech bint?

Our one person who was against us does not even speak to us anymore (although more to do with not getting her own way about something related to Himself's work) but this suggests to me a lack of 'social' intelligence on her part. She used to be a teacher. Her beautiful daughter was seriously anorexic during her A-levels. Who's the MAD one?

sharon said...

Buy a motorhome then you can travel around the country at whim and defy any Government Nazi to track you down!

Big mamma frog said...

Yeah, I've met very few people who are openly aggressively against home education (to date one headmaster and a couple of childminders). I've met plenty who are ignorant, some who are prejudiced but tolerable, and many who dismiss it as something crazy to ignore, but are otherwise harmless.

But the ones I am always touched by are those who are ready, who are at that place, where they sense something is wrong with the system and are genuinely interested in hearing about an alternative. There aren't many of them, but when you meet them you come away feeling like you may just have made a difference to someone's life.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

You sound a tad bit mad. Good for you and a pox on Baroness Deech and her PC kind.

Grit said...

like you, i have had far more positive than negative comments in sum, mmesg. i worry that badman / deech / bbc will give a voice to those who are suspicious about HE but can't articulate a coherent argument. post ishaq coverage i'm expecting people to come out with ill-founded incoherent resentments dressed up as 'for the good of the children'. anyway, no-one has taken me on in the street face-to-face yet. that's the strength and courage of my argument. or maybe it's just the sight of my tattoos and my pitbull.

sharon, you can guess i would love that, because i am a hippie, just one in denial. Dig would never do it because he is a lilly livered sissy who likes to live with a gas powered rotating office chair, and you can't fit one of those in a motorhome.

aw, bigmammafrog, you are right there. some little people do not survive in the school environment and yeah, i will give encouragement on home ed if folks come seeking it.

hi retired&crazy! you are one strong lady. can you buy pox in a box for easy posting?

R. Molder said...

Grit I'd put you up against a solicitor/college professor any day because you have the passion of a mama lion for home education and the knowledge of why it's a good idea. Don't back down. How does one become a baroness anyway?

She has a journalist daughter and a journalist/historian father so I bet she's into doing mad research. I wonder if you could find her at her law professor job and talk openly about home education? Her specialty is family relationships and the law. It would be quite a coup to get her on your side. I only know this from Wikipedia, hope I have the right Baroness!