Want to hear a loaded question? Well this is one I hear a lot when we go out and people find out that I homeschool my boys. They are usually talking to me about something that their child is doing in public school and I try to act interested really I do ( as my eyes glaze over, like when my teenager talks about video games!). I was there once and it didn't work for my family but more power to anyone who thinks its right for their family. Of course, that's usually not the case! BUT once they find out that I have turned to the dark side and GASP pulled my boys out of public school they always say/ask " I wouldn't know how to homeschool my kids in all those subjects. Aren't you afraid that they won't learn anything? I mean it's not like you are a qualified teacher or anything, are you?" OK here is where I use my SUPER HOMESCHOOL MOM POWERS and resist to the urge to reach down their pretty throats and rip out their tongue out, there I feel better now! too much? Yes, I have issues, I know, I know -but this was said to me last year at our neighborhood swim team practice and it haunts me to this day. This is where I calmly say" Well.... I do feel like I am qualified to do what is best for my boys, and they were not getting the education in public school that I can give them at home. And furthermore, ( stepping on my soap box here and no I didn't say furthermore but its what I would have said if I would have thought of it at the time!) I have a great support group both online and locally that can help me anytime I need it!" (So take that!)" Most of the time, this allows them to walk away in the cloud of shame that I just put them under or they come back with "Oh well, I couldn't do it anyways, I couldn't stand to be around my kids that much!" Sad huh?
Every once in a while, I get someone who was listening in come up to me later and confess that they are thinking of homeschooling too. Imagine that! Then the questions start, like, "Where do you start?" I have a bookmarked online guide( for those new to homeschooling or thinking about it) that I send them, for just this occasion that gives them a jumping off point. For the rest of the time, they usually ask all kinds of questions, like what do you do for spelling lists, or what is the best way to teach science at home? That's when I usually tell them everything that I do right down the the breaks and outside the home classes we take. Also saying in the same long winded breathe that this is what works for my family but it might not work for yours. It is trail and error to find what can make your kids love to learn again, and the rest of it will come. Whether they take the next amazing step or not, I usually have another person to call a friend. Homeschooling to me (most days anyways) is the precious time I get with my boys while they are young. Learning or re-learning (for me) History, science, Math and even English ( by far my worst subject in school) with them has made my life fuller (and busier too) but I won't change it for a million bucks.
SO am I crazier than the Mad Hatter? Maybe, I am not telling, you have to decide that one for yourself!
