It’s September, and there’s been a flurry of back-to-school posts plus the flurry of not-back-to-school posts from the homeschoolers. And in our house we just went along our business. I did get a couple of emails inviting me to guest post elsewhere with our reasons for homeschooling, or our daily schedule, or whatever.
But, you know, we were busy. Doing stuff.
That, I think, is ultimately our homeschooling life. It’s not this “thing” we do. It’s life. It’s why we continue to do so, because it works for us. And yes, we are creatures of habit.
No, we don’t hate school.
No, we don’t hate teachers either. I think they have one of the hardest jobs out there. (the kids are the easy part)
Yes, I think public education needs serious reformation.
No, I don’t think everyone should homeschool.
Yes, I have wished all these kids would go away for a few hours each day.
Most of the time, we just roll along, learning as we go, grownup, children, teens and all. Mostly thing roll off my back. I’ve done this too long to defend myself to others or to get my feathers all ruffled when someone decries homeschooling or unschooling as something that can’t possibly work.
Whatever.
Sometimes, like the other week, when the grocery store clerk was absolutely shocked to hear that homeschoolers actually met up with other homeschooling families and their children *gasp* would play together, I get a little riled. Then again, she also had an opinion when I commented on the final price of my groceries. ‘Well, when you buy stuff like this..” pointing to my frozen boxed goods that we buy only occasionally, and only that week because of a huge looming deadline. I’m sure she did a snap judgment on the lack of vegetables, not knowing that we live across from a veggies stand and have all we can eat now. Thanks for that.
It’s our sixteenth year. Sixteen. In years. We might have a sense of what we are doing now. my family all know it works. Anyone who talks to any of my children – my CHILDREN, not me – for any more than five or ten minutes can clearly see we’re doing something right.
What ever it is, no matter how much they don’t/can’t/won’t understand it.
i know there are people fighting the good fight, being indignant for me, or watchful, and having the arguments. But for me? I’m tired. It’s been 16 years, it just works. Not in theory, not in a long discussion, not in a book.
Three of my children are arguably adults. They are, on their next birthdays, 17, 19, and 22. Two of them no longer live at home and live on their own as adults who have jobs, pay bills, interact in this “real world” people told them about, sometimes while they were active participants. The third one helps run the household, arguably a lost skill. Right now, she’s finishing up painting the kitchen. Unsupervised even. The youngest is 8, almost 9. Still a ways to go there, but like I said above – I think we can handle it.
So in the end, anonymous stranger, I don’t care what you think. Whether you feel my kids don’t get enough contact with other children, or don’t know X by Y, or spend too much time in front of this screen or that, or if home renovation is a useful skill or not, or will they be able to get real jobs or go to a real college, it doesn’t matter. They’ve been educated according to their talents, their needs and their own interests.
Not mine, not yours.
Theirs.
Because in the end, homeschooling my children is all about them. And it will continue to work just fine, thanks.
I have four children and the oldest two are DONE
and adults. I only have a 16yo & 8yo, both girls, left. They largely
teach themselves at this point.
His love of learning will likely be squashed on school. It happens for
most kids. If you have concerns now, you'll have more when he starts.
It's better to start homeschooling NOW than put him in school and "wait
and see". The younger grades require so little work on your part, it
just makes more sense to homeschool straight away, than to try it after
he's been trained by the system. You'd have to undo a lot of things, so
better to begin on the right step.
As for worries about the high school years - you have PLENTY of time and
MANY options. Also realize you will never cover it all. Schools don't.
Even a lifetime is not enough to learn everything. Your job is to
prepare the children for adulthood.
The only other thing I can add is some observations about my two oldest.
Addison (my son - now 21) went to a private Christian school for a year
and a half. It wasn't any better than public school. He went to public
school for grades 6 & 7, his choice. It was also his choice to return
home. He did exceptionally well when he was at school, and he says it
was because he treated it like a game. Play by the rules of the game,
then you "win" (ie, get good grades). He had a major accident in grade
11 and didn't do any work at all. Then he went to NBCC-SJ, took their
Computer Programming course (2 year program), graduated with a tie for
the top of the class, and is now working for the Dept of Education in
their student loan division in Fredericton. He also got married. 
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