One of the hardest parts for all of us about homeschooling is the looks people give us when we're out in public during the schoolday. The kids have gotten maybe slightly more comfortable with it since they started last fall, but it was not pleasant when I took them to morning mass one day and a well-meaning lady came up and said, "I'm the school police. Why aren't you in school?" At that time she didn't know they were homeschooled, but it still made an impression. Walking around the mall in Anchorage last week and bopping around town with the kids, I could see the same question on people's faces. Never mind that they are with both their parents, and my husband was wearing a tie even. There is always this niggling about it. I'll admit, that it's not very often, and it is generally just a few "toe the line" souls who want to make sure that every kid is being educated, and by golly, you'd better not be one of those deadbeat parents who don't send their kids to school.
Now I know I did the same thing when I would see kids out and about during the day. I wasn't obvious about it, but I did wonder. Of course, that was before I knew how many kids were homeschooled. In Homer there are like 400 kids homeschooled. That's enough to open up an entire school, and if they all were in the brick and mortar building, there would be a huge overcrowding issue.
I am confident that my kids are learning so I have learned to ignore those looks to a degree. I just wish my kids weren't so self-conscious about appearing in public during the day.
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this is something to think about in light of the fact that in California ..not too long ago it was not even legal to "homeschool" and one would never take thier children "out" during school hours..we are blessed..there is a level of repsect i feel we need to carry with us as we go out in the day..after our school..
ReplyDeleteIronically, before it was illegal to homeschool, everyone homeschooled because there were no schools besides home! How far we've come....or are we going backwards??
ReplyDeleteI remember being so scared as a child in California being homeschooled. We always had the police on our door banging on it and me hiding in the closet. We finally got a lawyer won the case and it finally stopped. It was right after it became legal, but there was still a fight. I'm so thankful that when my two are school age it will be so much more peaceful to homeschool them than it was for my mom. Love the blog by the way. We hope to call Homer home in a year or so. :-) I will have to have Jill Fraley introduce if it works out. :-)
ReplyDeleteWow. I'm curious, what years was that?? Amazing how far things have come.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the blog!
Wow! Another soon-to-be Homerite! We know Jill--she's in charge of one of the girls groups my daughter has been part of!