Frantic

Today, dear daughter followed up her regular music lessons with a piano masterclass. It was good fun - the participants all got to hear each others' favourite pieces and had some input from an expert pianist who doesn't normally teach them. All very friendly and relaxed. And very heaven for kids who are that way inclined.

But - even though she was doing something she loved - the extra hours mean that she was busy from 10 in the morning to almost 8 in the evening. Of course, so were the other children involved in this activity. But only dd and the 2 other home educated children at the music classes were able to go home comfortable in the knowledge that tomorrow they don't have to face another 5 full days at school before they can get a decent break. When did kids' lives become so frantic?

Back when she was at school, dd and her pals had chess club, book club, or swimming club on a Monday, choir on a Tuesday, drama or hockey on a Wednesday, piano lessons or pottery on a Thursday, orchestra on a Friday. The sporty ones would have matches on the Saturday (the less sporty might have art or history groups), and then most had some kind of organized activity like dance classes or horse riding on a Sunday. In between all of this frenetic activity, there was masses of homework ... and, of course, full school days. No room to breathe, no room to stand and watch the seasons change, no sense that they could just 'be'.

And then there are the other kids - the ones that so concern Ed BALLS (sorry, I always feel like I have to capitalize his so apt surname). These young people have no access to organized activities whatsoever and their presence on street corners causes middle England much angst. Just think of any of the recent TV accounts of 'brave' celebs such as Jamie Oliver venturing into the badlands and count the images of bored kids.

This is where class divisions now seem most obvious: our young people are so obviously tiered into those that 'do' activities and those that 'don't'. And the gap seems to widen to the point that the do-ers are pushed to the verge of a breakdown and don't-ers are bored to the point of desperation.

Of course, there's an alternative and home educators are living it. Our children can follow their own interests with as much passion as they can muster, and are free to recover with an easier pace of life the next day. That way, energy is expended on real discovery rather than busy-work. Strange that this is the very rhythm that the government are trying to disrupt by dictating what constitutes a "suitable education".

As far as I can see, children engaging with mainstream education have to face yet another stark multiple choice question: Do you want to be (a) absolutely frantic or (b) fantastically apathetic?