The Questions People Ask

Being human means being curious, so naturally, people ask questions when you tell them you homeschool. 

I could never spend that much time with my kids all day. They'd drive me nuts! How do you do it?

Homeschooling is peaceful!

Yikes. This is a touchy subject. I don't want to step on your parenting toes, but do you hear yourself? You don't want to be with your kids? I mean, I get it. Everyone needs time alone, away from their kids, or at least with others their own age from time to time. But I love being with my kids. And homeschooling has made that time even more peaceful! That's right: homeschooling gives our family more peace and more love. 

Family time at the lake. Peace and learning. 

Is it hard?

No, not really. Not in practice. I found it much harder to try to figure out homework assignments with weird directions, math textbooks that teach in strange manners, and teacher's instructions that often contradicted themselves. Homeschooling is easy in comparison. 

Sure, there's planning involved. And if you think too deeply, you could stress yourself out about whether or not your child was meeting the same goals as his or her public school peers. But I don't do that. I don't compare. They're two different groups, homeschoolers and public schoolers. Comparison isn't fair or reasonable. We just plug along at our own pace and never mind what the kids in the big brick building are doing. 

So, what curriculum do you use?

The girls checking out a website together

Okay. So this is one that homeschoolers tend to ask each other, at least as much as public school parents ask. It's murky, and requires tact. My direct answer is usually that I create my own. Homeschoolers frequently will rattle off the name of a big homeschool curriculum. As for me and my kids, we tend to do our own thing. Telling people that leads to the next question:

Do you have to be qualified to teach your own children?

Living abroad provides many life lessons which can't be obtained with any text.

This one bugs me a little, but I shrug it off. It feels like my own qualifications are being judged. They probably are. People are judgy. Whatever. I tell them that the laws depend on the state you report to, and usually leave it at that, if possible. 

How does the government know you're actually teaching your kids? Shouldn't there be some sort of test?

Learning doesn't have to mean testing. 

Oh, dear. This one bothers me, too. I usually prattle off the same answer as above, with the state determining the rules for testing/proof of progress. All the while, I am seething on the inside because my tendency is to view this as an insult to my character as well as my children's. Besides, tests don't give a complete picture of learning. 

Where do you "do" school?

Learning happens everywhere, even in a kayak

Where don't we? Let's see... Today, we pushed together the love seat and couch, covered them in blankets and pillows and made a nest. We sat across from each other and read, watched a documentary, and did some writing. 

Above: Tuna learning to shuck corn at Jimmy Carter's boyhood home in Georgia.
Below: Bay feeding the corn to the mule on the farm. One of our "field trips" earlier this year

Other days, we work at the kitchen counter, dining room table, floor, park, car, library, museum, historical site... We "do" life, not school. Learning is a side-effect of living. 

Life IS learning! Learning some German history at a castle ruins. 

We don't have a school room. I thought we might, at first, but that quickly stopped working for us. We like to move around. We like to explore. And we don't use any textbooks to do our learning. 

Bay expressed an interest in photography, so I set her loose with a good camera in Savannah. She has an eye for it!

What about socialization? 

Well, what kind of homeschooler would I be if I didn't include this question in the mix? Truth is, my kids are probably under "socialized." Tuna is an introvert and the only time she sees other kids is on the rare occasion she plays outside with them (she prefers to play on her own) and the once a week Girl Scout meeting. No, this doesn't worry me. She prefers her family, herself, and other trusted adults as company. I am not concerned. Bay is on the opposite end of that spectrum. She loves being with people. She goes to a teen center once a week and hangs out with her schooled friends after they finish their homework most evenings. She has no extracurricular activities at this time. We are not the sort of homeschoolers who shuffle kids to and fro to expose them to tons of activities. We let them decide for themselves and we limit their activities. Some seasons, we have no structured activity at all. And we think that's a good thing. 

Aren't you worried that they're going to be weird?

my little homeschooled weirdo ready for Halloween

Aren't all kids weird? It would worry me more to think of them growing up to be just like everyone else. We embrace our weirdness here. We encourage you to do the same. 

There's no uniform when you're a homeschooler!

What questions am I forgetting? What questions are asked of you?