No, really, that is what homeschooling looks like

As you may have guessed, we love to talk bout homeschooling.  Today, while at a community pancake breakfast, someone asked me what homeschooling was like.  My soon to be 17 year old daughter was sitting across the table from me.

I turned from my friend who asked the question and looked at my daughter.  I said to my daughter, "Did you do your homework?  Did you write it down?"

(Side note:  We keep a learning journal.  I tell me kids that school work doesn't count unless they write down what assignments or activities they do.)

I turned back to my friend and said, "That is what homeschooling looks like."

My friend thought I was kidding.  "No, really, this is what homeschooling looks like, at least at this stage."

My daughter then described her schedule of two college classes at the community college, two online high school classes from a private school, math with a tutor, music lessons, and choir and band rehearsals.

I this point I popped in with, "Basically, all I do is drive her around."  I then corrected myself, "Well, now that she has her drivers license, I don't even drive her around anymore.  She does that herself."

I further explained how homeschooling is more like being a principal than a teacher.  I arrange the instructions, but I don't do very much hands on.  Most of my time is spent on scheduling and driving kids to the things I have scheduled.  In our area, there is an abundance of enrichment classes which are affordable and we utilize these resources.

The exception to this pattern is my soon to be 7 year old who gets one-on-one instruction from me, though I spend an awful lot of time driving him around too.  I find that in general, I do a lot of "hands on" instruction until my children learn to read and write.  At that point, I slide into my "principal's chair."  Though, I do still put on my "teacher hat" once in a while to teach a class at our homeschool co-op.

There are many, many styles of homeschooling.  So, don't let my style of homeschooling scare you away from homeschooling if this is not right for you.