Oh..YOU Homeschool?

I homeschooled my kids from middle school through high school.
It wasn’t easy.
In fact, there were days I wondered if we had made the right decision. It didn’t help that my daughter, upon hearing the news that we were to begin homeschooling, announced she was “worried that I was going to make her dumb.”

The same daughter who graduated with a double major at the age of 20. I remind her of this whenever possible.

Why am I telling you all this?
Because I believe that education is not limited to a desk and a book, between the hours of 8am-3pm.
IT IS EVERYWHERE.

My goal as a home school parent was not to teach my kids the things that I had learned, because then, they would only know what I know, and nothing more.

My goal, instead, was to teach them to LOVE learning.
To seek it, to grab it by the collar, to never be content with the words, “I don’t know.”

To be able to give an answer for what they believe. To be self-starters and self-motivated. To open their minds to possibilities and make them think BIG, not small.

I received no home school funds. I scoured home school fairs and online sites for used books and educational ideas that could be implemented with minimal cost. There were a few bigger textbook expenses, of course.

And, contrary to what many think of “the home school mom,” I did not wear long dresses every day and refuse to cut my hair. I didn’t make my own cheese. I didn’t bow my head in submission to my husband when he walked into a room. (Dear Baby Jesus in a manger, that was hard to even TYPE) I never once thought, “OMG. I forgot to socialize my kids!”

And through this all, miracle of miracles, I still worked.

So as we wrap our heads around education and what it means to “teach” our kids, I suggest some out there in Internet-land open their minds as well.

Home schooling is not a conspiracy:
it is a challenge and it is a joy.
xoxo