I had an interesting homeschool conversation last night. A dad is concerned that his homeschooled son (age 7) is not interacting enough with peers. Dad feels the son needs to go back to school to have friends, in order to be properly well-rounded. Mom was asking me what I thought. (I love it when people want to know what I think - I'm so vain, I probably thought this song was about me . . . um, sorry) My question to Mom was, "How many friends does it take to be socially healthy?" I'd like to know what you think. Is public school necessary to be properly socialized? How many friends does a child need to feel self-confident? Is self-confidence dependent on outside friends? I wrote some of my opinions and experiences in a previous blog post.

We also talked about the boy's 9 year old sister who is in public school. The girl is frustrated because her teacher will not let her work ahead in math, but is insisting she read 15 books in 9 weeks. The girl loves math and has an aptitude for it. Reading . . . not so much. Why can't the girl work up to a math level that will challenge her? Who picked the number "15" books to read in a 9 week period? Is it a bad thing if she reads 14 books in 9 weeks? What if she wants to read 20? Who makes these rules?????

What do you think? If you are thinking this cookie-cutter/conveyor belt approach to education sounds silly, you are ready to read A Thomas Jefferson Education. This is a book written by a homeschool dad, who was a late academic bloomer (he didn't read until he was 12!), now holds a PhD and is founder of George Wythe University in Utah. A Thomas Jefferson Education, aka TJEd, is an educational philosophy, not a curriculum. I am anxious for you all to read it, and then post your thoughts back here.