Homeschooling

Homeschooling is something that interests me. Time will tell if it interests me enough to pursue it as a practice… but for now it remains an interest of mine. I enjoy hearing how others make it work. I enjoy the statistics behind the names and faces that make up the gross numbers, making this no longer a pursuit of religious fanatics as occasionally presumed. I enjoy reading about the different teaching methods and schools of thought. I like teaching my children and incorporating some of the ideas and techniques I am learning through my research.

Here in Ontario children start kindergarten between the ages of 3 and 4. The deadline is January 1st. They start with Junior Kindergarten and then move onto Senior Kindergarten. Both are just half day. So accordingly, Julia should have 2 years of school almost under her belt (school’s not out till the end of June here) and would be starting “grade 1” in the fall. But, as Julia tells everyone we happen to meet on our travels, “we don’t live here, you won’t ever see me again… and I don’t go to school yet”. This conversation then gets directed towards me and I have to reveal way more information than I’m comfortable sharing with a stranger who “won’t ever see me again”. So after one such conversation which involved me divulging where we’re from, why we’re here, what the dates for starting kindergarten are where we live and why my kids aren’t in school… I made a decision. The nosy woman interviewing me accosted me with what I should be doing… homeschooling. She was quite demanding and I didn’t argue but let her lecture me on the benefits, the theories and of course her own experience. I was a little shocked at how she would just come out and tell me what to do, but nonetheless, I was shocked to silence… and I learned something. People generally don’t want to ask too many questions when you announce “I’m homeschooling”. Those who have made the choice to homeschool are usually pretty firm and stable in their decision to do so, and won’t be swayed. That’s great. I think it’s wonderful… I’m just going to borrow that stereotype and whenever someone demands to know my life story with the beginning question, “why isn’t she in school?” I’m simply going to reply, a bit snobbishly and with finality, “oh, we homeschool”. For, don’t we all?