Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Homeschoolers on TV

There is a new reality television show called The World's Strictest Parents. Here's a little background info:

The World's Strictest Parents is a television series developed by TwentyTwenty Television, originally broadcast by BBC. America's CMT (part of MTV Networks) and Australia's Channel Seven have both created localised versions of the program, with the CMT episodes frequently rebroadcasting on MTV.

The concept is that two so-called "unruly" teenagers are sent to live abroad with a strict host family for a week in an attempt to change their behavior. During the week they receive an impact letter from their birth parents with a list of issues they should try to fix.



I normally don't watch much television, and never reality shows. However, when I read that a BBC episode sent two troubled teens from the UK to live with an American homeschool family, I couldn't resist. I was pleasantly surprised.

Check it out here:

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5


Part 6


Epilogue


Apparently, this episode with the homeschool family was one of the post popular of the series. I can see why.

UPDATE:

I forgot to post the link the the Peck's website Teaching Self Government.

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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Janine,

I was surfing around today and found your coverage of our show. I am the Utah mom in the BBC show. I have to admit this is the first I have seen of the follow up episode. I am so happy to see it. James and Hannah will always have a special place in our hearts! We talk to them as often as we can. They have a lot of odds going against them, but now that they have a vision of something different they have such great potential. I am so happy to have done the show. Thanks again for posting this. On my site, I have told some of the experiences which were not shown in the final product. You may want to take a look. http://teachingselfgovernment.com

Nicholeen Peck

ChristineMM said...

Thank you for posting this. I'd not seen the show ever before. I'll finish watching it tomorrow. I'm watching with my kids & we've already had some discussions about life choices.
(homeschool mom)
ChristineMM

Michelle said...

Thank you so much for posting this. I'm still wiping away the tears as I type. What I loved so much was the calmness of the Pecks and how respectful they all are towards each other. They never shouted or showed anger towards kids they hosted. What a great family model. Off to check out Nicholeen's website...

Michelle, homeschooling mother of 1, American living in the UK.

ChristineMM said...

Thanks again for posting this. We finished watching it this morning.

I am so impressed with the Peck's calmness through even the most challenging situations. I love how it showed that firm limits and rules can exist peacefully, with respectful interactions. I think some parents who are lenient assume that having a rule or limit is something negative that will cause terrible strife and conflict but it is just not always true. Some parents who want 'non-violent communcation' and peaceful relations and think a rule or limits will cause the opposite. The way the family communicates and interacts is important so a rule can exist with calm relations, a rule doesn't require the parent to be mean or cruel. That is seen clearly with the Pecks.

The show was emotional for me and I was reaching for the tissues numerous times!
Bravo!

Janine Cate said...

Nicholeen,

Thanks for your comment. I went back and added a link to my post. You did a great job with those kids.

We do foster care, so it was a good reminder for me how to deal with difficult children. (And my own can be a little challenging once in a while).

Janine

Janine Cate said...

Christine and Michelle,

I teared up too.

Marni said...

I was pleasantly surprised to see this while catching up on your blog. I'm acquainted with Nicholeen - she's an amazing woman. For those that might be interested, she's got a brand new book out called "A House United" and some talk CDs as well.

gfcfmomofmany said...

I have watched this show before and I like it. Which is big given what passes for tv programing today. I always like that the 'strict parents' are usually parents that have rules and stick to them, dishing out approriate punishment when disobeyed. Gasp!

lol Merry Christmas!and God bless
Heather Laurie
www.specialneedshomeschooling.com

Happy Elf Mom (Christine) said...

LOL I LOVED THIS SHOW!! Thank you for posting it. Though... they don't strike me as being that strict. In fact, they have a whole peer group for their kids with similar values. Oh, well, made for good viewing and I really found myself rooting for the family to help these kids.

And the moms... you can tell that whatever problems the kids had, they did the best they could. I just wish I could hug 'em and tell them they did the right thing. *sniff*