My Homeschooling FAQ

I've been confronted with quite a few homeschooling myths recently. Here are the answers to some of our most frequently asked questions.


Homeschoolers have lots of free time.
We are busy. Just because we are home all day does not mean we are available all day. We do school, then we do chores, then we practice piano and go to lessons and run errands. 80% of the time the day is over before we've had a chance to do it all. I love you and I want to see you, but there are certain days of the week I'm just not available. I'm sorry.

**yes, I know there are some homeschoolers who manage to learn everything they need to know by simply living life and "unschooling." I'm not that smart. I use books and the books take time.

Homeschoolers are weird and unsocialized
This is probably the most common homeschooling myth. We go to scouts, church, group piano classes, sewing classes, science classes, story time at the library, swim lessons and more.

What? Maddie doesn't like Bratz and Hanna Montana?
Okay. This isn't a homeschooling myth, but I hear it so often. Hmm. maybe this does make us a little weird. But it's a good weird, so I'm happy with it. We do watch television but very rarely watch the Disney Channel. Most of our tv watching is Netflix on demand family movies or documentaries.

Well since you are home all day, you have time to (fill in the blank). Of all homeschooling myths, this one is probably the one I hate the most. Just because I'm home all day does NOT mean I'm cleaning my house and cooking fabulous meals,. I'm overseeing my kids' education and preparing them for their future. This takes time. And I'm cleaning up the cereal the 3 year old spilled and trying to find time to write enough articles to pay for our extra curricular activities and school books.

Where do you get those books that you use? Are you sure they are good?
Okay not a homeschooling myth, but this is what my father asked me one day a few years ago.
I'm not flying by the seat of my pants. We use real curriculum and I teach all subjects and we have lesson plans. I teach Reading, Writing, Grammar, Spelling, Math, Science, History, and Art. I have hand picked the best curriculum for our family in each of these areas. We work from the beginning to end of each book, then start the next grade. The curriculum I use is real and published by people who know what they are doing. Even some fancy private schools use the same curriculum I use. I didn't just buy some hillbilly homeschool manual from ebay and throw it on the school table.

I know there are many more homeschooling myths to cover, but right now these are the ones driving me the most crazy. I will probably come back and post more later.