Here’s a speech by Dav Pilkey, the author of the Captain Underpants series, where he talks about the difficulties he encountered in school and reminds us that not every child does, or needs to, fit inside the box. (A big thanks to HomeworkBlues, who often posts comments, for alerting me to the video.)
Stop Homework 
love that! watched it, then called my 9yo to watch it. he also writes stories and draws comic books all day, but he doesn’t have to sit in the hall, because he’s homeschooled. he loves dav pilkey, too, so what a great and inspirational thing to share with him. thank you!
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Thanks for the plug, Sara!
Lori – So glad to hear your son is homeschooled. The best lifestyle for a child who loves to write stories all day long and draw. My daughter’s young passions were writing stories, reading, drawing and building, pursuits she would have done for hours and hours after school, if only school would allow her (but you know, they can’t make us do all this homework, can they? Our house, our rules).
I’ve written on this blog about eventually cajoling my daughter to stop writing in order to start homework. If only I’d seen a video like this then. I would have pulled my daughter out of school the next day. If only I could turn the clock back.
In homeschooling, there’s no bell that says your little boy has to stop when he’s engrossed. No twenty minutes of reading. Can you imagine? I agreed with the wonderful teacher who said her heart breaks (or something like that) when she sees students writing dutifully that they’d read for the requisite half hour. She said she wanted her students to get “lost” in their studies. Reading is presented as such a chore in public school. My daughter would get lost in her books and could read for eight hours straight.
Lori, I actually got this Dav Pilkey video off a national homeschool list a year and a half ago. Of course, homeschool parents went wild over it. For those who haven’t seen it, watch the video and you’ll see why!
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