Friday, December 15, 2006

Homeschooling Flexibility: Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith

In the article referenced below, Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith explain why they have chosen to homeschool two of their three children and Will's nephew who is under their care (NOTE: their only child not being homeschooled is Will's son from his first marriage).

In addition to flexibility, Jada explains that her and Will "don't want [their] kids to memorize. [They] want them to learn."

In addition to mentioning this in the blog because I wanted to elaborate on yesterday's "Famous Homeschoolers" post, I also wanted to include this one because it mentions a reason for homeschooling I had not brought up before: flexibility.

Although my wife and I do not travel the world the way Will and Jada do, flexibility is important to us as well. For us flexibility means we can take family vacations when we want and are not tied to the public school system breaks. This means we can get better prices on travel and avoid over-crowding when we vacation.

Flexibility is also important for us because it allows us to better accommodate music lessons and the like. Teachers who are not available during the typical after-school windows because of commitments to existing students are often available during the day.

Flexibility benefits us as a family and our children because we can make time for the extra learning and extracurricular activities that we were never quite able to when they attended public school.

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