5 Crazy Things People Have Said To Me About Homeschooling

Some people homeschool. Shocking, right?
There are a LOT of misconceptions about homeschooling and those of us who choose it.
Here are some of the things I've heard.

1.You're taking the easy way out
Really? Anyone with kids knows that spending 24 hours a day with them is not easy.
I love my kids more than life itself, but let's be real here. Parenting is hard.

2. You’re ruining your kids’ lives
Every parent thinks they are ruining their children. It comes with the territory. And there are plenty of ways to do that. However, the fact that I've chosen to educate my children at my own expense, requiring huge portions of my time, energy, patience, and sanity isn't the thing that will ruin their lives.
It will probably be my insistence on green vegetables every night, or how often I drop f-bombs.

3. Nothing is more important than education
Actually, lots of things are more important than education.
For instance, the reason we started homeschooling to begin with - mental health. One of my kids was struggling with mental illness. Public school was so overwhelming that she tried to take her own life.
Was I willing to keep her there, knowing what a threat it was to both her mental and physical health? Hell no! Her education took a backseat, and we have no regrets about that.

4. They won't get into college
I've had two kids get accepted into colleges. Next.

5. They won't know how to make friends
First of all, going to school does not guarantee friends, and forced associations are not friendships.
Secondly, my youngest child can make friends in an empty room. Seriously. She is the friendliest human I've ever met, which is strange and challenging for her extremely introverted mother.
We have done dance classes, 4-H, and karate to give her the opportunity to meet people. Her friends range in age from the very young to the very old. No teaching required.

This is just a sampling of some of the negative comments I've gotten.
To be fair, I get plenty of positive comments as well. But those never make me question all of my life choices.

Eclectic Homeschooling

I call what we do Eclectic Homeschooling. Basically, I figure it out as we go, as close to free as possible. I occasionally buy workbooks, but not very often. We do go through TONS of composition notebooks, though. My Phoebe hates reading, so she's on about a 2nd grade level. She loves math, so she's about a 4th grade level there. We study science, history, government, art, geography, and whatever else catches our interest, when it catches our interest.
Yesterday she asked me what biome llamas originate from. We're all over the place, but she learns stuff much more in-depth than if we followed something someone else created.

And we're back!

It's been awhile since I've posted an update. It has definitely been a busy year!
We've moved, and learned, and grown!
Phoebe is beginning to read, and loves playing with numbers and doing science experiments. She's learning about fractions, which is being helped along by piano lessons.
She is still very much her Phoebe self, as you will see. My intention is to post weekly, and continue to update as Phoebe's homeschool journey progresses.