Suburban Turmoil, I Hate Homework

I ran across this blog after a deep discussion with Erin about educating our kids. While our children are a few years away from formal education, (TJ is 22 months, and Lilly is nine months), we've been hit with friends asking things like, "when are you starting preschool" and "are you planning on holding them back."

Like our other parenting avenues, we thought we'd be relaxed! Who knew that we needed to apply to the best school when we saw the first sonogram? We certainly didn't. Most of our friends have older kids, so we have seen the perils and pitfalls of massively overextended little ones, everything from 3 sports and extracurricular school activities, not to mention the incredible the amount of homework elementary students have nowadays. Just try to mash up all the homework and science fair projects with this busy extracurricular schedule. I can feel my hair turning gray thinking about it!

There's so much to learn about being a working adult while climbing trees as a youth. The interaction with neighborhood kids during free play is a lost art, and that concerns me. While Erin and I didn't reach a solid decision on formal education, we did decide to stay on our current relaxed Avenue and let our kids be kids as long as possible. Kid's that are actively social have plenty of opportunities to rest and have a balance of education, and outdoor play tends to be healthier.

On her blog, Suburban Turmoil, Lindsay Ferrier leaps onto a soapbox and covers this topic brilliantly. It is my pleasure to share the health:  Suburban Turmoil, I Hate Homework