The show must go on

When raising concerns about homeschooling some critics are willing to grant that parents might be able to teach the basics like English, History, Math and Science; however, the critics will then raise concerns about other activities. The often unstated assumption is only in high school can teenagers have exposure to things like sports, band, plays and so on. The claim is that even if homeschoolers somehow get a chance to dabble in a choir or band it would never match the full, rich experience that is only available in high school.

This weekend all three of our daughters participated in a performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s opera Pirates of Penzance. This claim was completely destroyed.

Pirates of Penzance is one of my favorite movies. I’ve watched it over a dozen times in the last ten years. The show this weekend was almost flawless. It was as good as any play or musical I’ve seen put on by a high school. The director was excellent. Our daughters had learned a lot over the last couple months.

In addition to learning new acting skills our daughters had a great time. They made friends with the rest of the cast. The older two thought it was OK and were glad to have had the experience, but were not ensnared. My youngest was in seventh heaven. She had a blast and is already talking about being in the next play this summer.

For us the real challenge is not in finding extra-curricular activities to allow children to experience more than a simple academic learning environment. The problem we struggle with is there are so many opportunities. In addition to Pirates of Penzance our daughters were in a play at church early in March, they are part of a homeschool band and they are in a homeschool choir.