Just Read the Article

I came across this post on The Pioneer Woman's blog today and wanted to share.  It was written by Heather Sanders of Oh My Stinkin' Heck (I like her already just based on her blog title!).

Click HERE to read it yourself.  She answers two of the most popular questions that people ask homeschoolers.

As I scrolled down to the bottom of the post, I noticed in the comment section that someone asked Heather, "How do you know it’s the best (learning) environment for your children?"

I love her answer:

"I always thought that homeschooling should be a jailable offense; so I didn’t start right away. We stumbled through two attempts at both public and private schools, and it wasn’t until our son would have been attending a particularly rough middle school that our hand was really forced on the issue. There were no private schools to fall back on; it was homeschool or send him off that cliff.

We’re fixing to start our fifth year of homeschooling. During this time, I’ve learned a few things:
- just about anyone can homeschool
- you do not need patience to begin
- yes, you *could* do it
- no, you don’t need a teaching degree (it can actually hinder)
- no, you don’t need a college degree, either
- me time is highly overrated; fall in love with “we” time instead
- you’ll get to know your children even better
- “family” will take on a whole new meaning
- socialization? to borrow from a friend, “I want my children to be civilized, not socialized.” Amen!

There are a ton of stereotypes out there about homeschooling and homeschoolers. The one constant is that it’s not what you would ever imagine it to be. It’s like stepping out of a black and white dream and breathing in color.

If you’re thinking about homeschooling, please seriously consider it. The same intuition that guided you to comfort a crying baby will not leave you high and dry with homeschooling; this is just the next step. If you loved your baby’s firsts, you will love homeschooling. You’ll have your share of your own firsts, too. But learning at home, surrounded by the people who love you? It gets no better than that."