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Chrissy Chard (she/they)'s avatar

Whoah... this article. We're in the midst of "school refusal" with my 6yo, and I had a breathtaking moment last week that stopped me in my tracks. I saw my child's "school refusal" as an invitation to heal. His resistance has been inviting me to consider that my younger self who felt she had to "perform" the role of student throughout all my schooling should never have had to do that. He's embodying the knowing that school doesn't feel good, and demanding that I not subject him to that. And I'm listening to him, BELIEVING him. Whew... and to be reminded that this is a form of resistance is the very reminder I needed this week. "Believing is the opposite of gaslighting." I have goosebumps reading this.

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Beth Hankoff's avatar

I have an adult friend who tells me I'm lucky and rare, in that I genuinely love what I do (tutoring homeschoolers). She says that most people, like herself, go to work because they have to, but get little pleasure out of it. Of course, I know SOME people like that, but if it's the majority, how sad! I have seen nieces and nephews go through traditional school and come out with no idea what they want to do. I try to convince parents to let their kids make more choices but outside the homeschool world, it seems to be a foreign concept. Thanks for bringing this up. We need to keep up the gentle push for people to think about a different approach to learning.

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