Another Reason to Homeschool

Almost every day of the week, our kids get a phone call from a neighborhood friend asking them to play capture the flag at 3 or 3:30. There's a sunken tiled circle at the center of our neighborhood where 15-30 kids ages 6-15 will converge to play unsupervised until the sun goes down. They generally come home dirty, sometimes with scrapes, always with stories about triumphs and losses.

Contrast that with this article about a recent ban on balls at a school in Canada, and I'm on the side of "I'm so thankful I homeschool" today. Not only that, but I guess I should be thankful I homeschool in China! I hear more and more stories of schools in the U.S. banning anything that might injure a child. Tag? They could trip! Handstands? Head trauma! Monkey bars? Never!

It's sad that safety seems to be becoming the value that trumps others - play, creativity, freedom, independence, survival skills. So thankful that homeschool allows our kids to have fun!