Children who don't go to school

Last weekend I went to meet the people who are part of ALE, the Association for Free Education in Spain. They met in a beautiful lodge in the Mar Menor and as from where I am it doesn't catch me away, we decided to approach. In addition to talking with fathers and mothers who educate responsibly in their homes, we were able to meet children who don't go to school.

The experience was wonderful. In the center almost a hundred people got together and half were children: from a two-month-old baby to boys who took my head off.

We had a great time and was able to inform myself directly of the objectives and actions of this Association, which aims to that home education be formally recognized in Spain according to the guidelines of our Constitutional text, the experience of the surrounding countries and the sentences that have so far endorsed the cases that in Spain have been reviewed.

But what struck me most was the attitude of the children. The sociability It was normal, being a way of relating that I perceived very healthy: the children talked and played with each other with enormous respect, there were no conflicts or confrontations, the elderly treated the children with tenderness and included them in their activities.

Powerfully caught my attention that they would not make fun of each other or compete with viciousness, there were no fights or shouts. If the greatest criticism of this educational option is precisely that children need to socialize, my impression was that they were perfectly related in society and respectfully enjoyed it.

These children were accustomed to dealing with adults and spoke to them naturally, with respect but with self-assurance, peer to peer. In their daily lives, their social relationships are not limited to a classroom, a patio and a group of peers of the same age, but they deal with people of all ages according to their sympathies and interests. And I think that is very important for the formation of children.

I also believe that this freedom in treatment and that there is the possibility of spending time with people of all ages is one of the most positive aspects that this educational option can offer. Relating in a natural social environment, such as life itself, is one of the experiences that these children who don't go to school They enjoy more.

Also, and much more after this visit, I believe that the official school system would have much to learn from these families to try to offer our children the possibility of developing their sociability more naturally.