It happens all the time. I'm out shopping with my kids before lunch and they are the only children in the grocery store over the age of four. Someone, whether the butcher, the cashier or some lovely old lady will always ask, "So is there no school today?" I'm always polite and say, "Yes, we have school. We homeschool." I've been fortunate enough to never experience any extreme negativity about our choice to homeschool, but I do undergo a series of questions to determine if I am worthy.
- So what kinds of things do you do when you homeschool?
- Are you involved in any of the homeschool groups?
- Do your children like homeschooling?
- Aren't you tired at the end of the day?
- Do you worry about socialization?
While homeschooling is a popular choice these days with all the conferences, co-ops, curriculum and books, there are still those that worry about the qualifications of the parents. Looking at the history of public education, it has only been in the last one hundred years that public education became available to all. Prior to that, guess what? Parents taught their kids to read, to work math problems, and how to function within the home: including cooking, sewing and taking care of themselves. Prior to 1900, many children studied hard at home to be accepted into colleges. I guess you could say we are going back to our roots. We are focusing on our family, educating our children with the best materials we have, and preparing them for the real world, where God is first and foremost in our lives, where people respond with respect to each other, and creating an ideal that parents are truly the first teachers.
Am I qualified to teach my own children? I will teach them differently than another homeschooling mom or dad. My children will have a different childhood experience by being homeschooled. Despite my beliefs concerning the homeschooling experience, I’m still faced with those who question the concept and my abilties. My polite responses to these questions have served me well for seven years.
“So what kinds of things do you do when you homeschool?” I read with my children. We explore text books, library books, bookstores, and the internet for information that coincides with our curriculum. We pray together, eat together and laugh often. Our day is full of love and frustration, joy and trouble. Is all sunshine and kittens? Yes, including the sunburns and scratches. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Are you involved in any of the homeschool groups?” Not this year. I decided to take a year and put the ‘home’ back in homeschooling. And, no, I have no regrets about that.
“Do your children like homeschooling?” Do yours enjoy public or private schools? My children have always been homeschooled. It’s what they know and it’s what they love.
“Aren't you tired at the end of the day?” Uh-huh. If I wasn’t I would know I was lazy.
“Do you worry about socialization?” What about it? My children socialize with my husband and I; it’s true, we really do talk and listen to our children! They have friends and cousins to play with. They are involved at church. Socialization is a sorry attack to hold over homeschoolers with all the reports of bullies in schools and the pressures of fashion and technology, the haves and the have-nots. Those are not issues for my children. Does that mean that they don’t know about the real world? Sure does! And I plan on keeping it that way for as long as possible. There is a time and place for everything and ten years old is not the time to start worrying about being overweight or texting.
I applaud any parent who takes it upon themselves to truly be a teacher to their child; whether that means they are sitting side-by-side doing homework from school or actually teaching school at home, every good parent is invested to some degree in their child’s education.
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