Homeschool Blogging A-Z: Q is for Questions

As we finish our 8th grade of homeschooling and look forward to our 9th, It is interesting to reflect on all of the questions about homeschooling that have been presented to us over the year.  Like we have evolved over the years, so have the questions.  Here is a general accounting of them.

1. Why aren't the kids in school? In our early days when the kids were small children, all kind of people would sto us as we went about our day and grill me and the kids about why they were not in school.  Most seemed annoyed that children were invading their quet time at the library or supermarket at a time when they did not expect kids there.  My duaghter, who was quite tiny at the time, would pointedly say, "We don't go to school."  Then she would walk away.  Great fun!

2. What about socialization? This question came from people we knew who worried that our kids would become weird misfits.  My personal research about the subject taught me to not bother answering the question as no one would be satisfied with the answer.  So I didn't.

3.  Why don't you put the kids back in school and then volunteer at the school?  Parents of public school and private schooled kids were appalled that I would bring my kids home to educate them and give them ALL my time.  Many felt that I should be contributing to the greater good by using my strenths and knowledge in the schools and putting my kids back in classes.  I knew, however, that I only had two children and if I did not look out for their best interests first and foremost, who would?

4.  What do you use for curriculum? The tide started to turn in the mid 2000's and more and more people knew about homeschooling and were beginning to look at if favorably.  At the point people began drilling about curriculum in what seemed like and attempt to decipher if were homeschooling 'correctly'.

5. Can you homeschool my child?  When people began to realize that I did in fact know what I was doing and having positive results, I got an overwhelming amout of people asking if I would homeschool their kids while they worked.  They felt that their kids also deserved the benefits of homeschooling even if they could not or would not do it themselves.  I declined.  People were unhappy with me.

6. It's time for high school.  Shouldn't you put them back into school? As my kids began to approach high school years, we noticed that other homeschoolers were putting their kids in public schools.  We actually have some quality schools in our area.  We began to feel pressure and even got some direct demands from relatives that "enough was enough".  We'd had our homeschooling fun.  It was time for the kids to go back to school.  We polled our kids and like us, they did not agree.  We continued to homeshool.

7.  What about the prom?  By this time I was homeschooling big, strong, adult-looking homeschoolers.  People began to worry about socialization again.  Fortunately, when they asked the coded question about the prom, I was able to recite where and when all of the local homeschool proms occurred.

8.  Why did you start homeschooling in the first place? There days, people are generally curious.  This question most often comes from the parents of other homeschooling parents.  Yes, homeschooling grandparents.  It seems to me that they are trying to reconcile for themselves their own kids homeschooling journey and are looking for comparison points.

9.  How do I start homeschooling? This past year, I have been pleasantly surprised by the vast number of new homeschoolers who have approached me looking for help.  It appears that we are having a resurgence of homeschooling.  This is going to get interesting.



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