Top Ten Questions People Ask Me and My Kids About Homeschooling

When you do something different from the mainstream, you tend to get asked a lot of questions.  Homeschooling seems to strike a chord with almost everyone, as almost everyone has gone to school.  Why would we choose differently?  Some people seem to take our decision rather personally, although it had nothing to do with them, but most seem genuinely curious.  When people find out that we homeschool, there are some fairly predictable questions we get asked, some more common for me, and some more common for Swimmah and Turtlegirl.  

The top ten questions we get asked are:

1. "Are you going to homeschool through high school?" I have been asked this question probably the most frequently, right from the time we started homeschooling when my kids were 6 and 4 years old.  Back then, my response was typically, "We'll see when we get there."  Now we are there and people are still asking if we're going to continue through high school.  
2. When I say "yes", the next question inevitably is, "What about chemistry?" Occasionally they'll ask about algebra or physics, but it's usually chemistry.   Then I explain that they can take classes online, or at a community college, or we can get together with some other homeschoolers and hire a teacher - or maybe one of the other parents could teach something like chemistry (or algebra or physics).  Or we could find some books and do it ourselves at home like we have with every other subject.
3. Then there's usually a moment where they think for a minute or so and then ask, "What time do you start in the morning?"  I kind of cringe inside when they ask this one, because to be honest, we're not morning people.  We tend to be slow to get moving in the morning.  I try to get us going by 10:00 and usually we're pretty close to that.  Swimmah's good about starting her routine (practice piano, then study French, then math, then Shakespeare...) around 10 without me reminding her.
4. Then another moment, and, "Do you have to do standardized tests?"  "Well, it varies by state, but in Connecticut, no."
5. At this point, they either look baffled or indignant.  "How do you know they're learning?"  I want to say, "Um, I live with them...And I talk to them..."  In the early days of our homeschooling, I was genuinely confused by this question.  But one day, the light bulb went on in my head - if someone's only experience with learning is in a traditional school setting, with a teacher lecturing to a large group - indeed, how would the teacher know that the students are learning?  But at home, we have a student-teacher ratio of 1:2 or even 1:1.  We can have a dialogue going the whole time.  When they were little, I would see the things we were learning in their play.  Now that they're older, they are expected to do some writing or projects, and in the case of math, workbook pages and tests.  And if they're not getting it, they don't just get a bad grade and we move on.  We do it again until they do get it - maybe taking a different approach, or taking a break and coming back to it later.
6. "Do you wear your pajamas?"  Yes, my kids do.  I like to exercise, shower and get dressed before we start, though  (which partly explains the later start time).
7. My kids have been asked, "Isn't weird to have your Mom as your teacher?"   "Well, as she's been my teacher for almost as long as I can remember - no."  It's interesting to think about the different relationships/family dynamics homeschooling can create.  Rather than an outside teacher being the expert and the parents being "clueless", homeschooled kids see their parents as knowledgeable (at least a little bit).  Not that we don't have our clueless moments as well...
8. They also get asked, "Don't you get tired of being at home?"  "Don't you get tired of being at school?  And we don't actually stay at home all the time, anyway."  I do actually let my kids out of the house now and again.
9. They have even been asked, "Do you have any friends?"  Rather indignantly, "Yes!"  It's really kind of funny to think about the image many people have of what homeschooling looks like.  They think we just sit at home around the kitchen table by ourselves all day.  In reality, we often overbook with outside activities.  We get together with other homeschoolers for park days and classes and book discussion groups.  We had a homeschool Girl Scout troop for seven years, and now my girls are part of a community service group (all homeschoolers).  Homeschoolers also participate in town or YMCA sports, dance or martial arts classes, and many other activities.
10. But I think the question they get asked the most, followed by a snicker, is, "Do you have homework?"  They either answer with a smile, "It's all homework!", or they patiently explain that they do, in fact, get homework for classes taken outside the home.

Then when they have asked all the questions they could think of, they say, "I could never do that." or "I don't have the patience."

Yeah.  That's what I used to think, too.  **Snicker**

This post is linked to Top Ten Tuesday