Often, when I tell people that we homeschool, I get looks of confusion and questions like “Isn’t that difficult? How do you know what to do? Do you have the space? Can you get it all done?” I know from whence their questions originate: the idea that we are recreating traditional school in our home. My answers are usually targeted at clearing up this misunderstanding. You see, homeschooling doesn’t always look like school!

I had an “aha!” moment several years ago, after my first official year of homeschooling (I say “official” because Kindergarten isn’t required in our state; this story takes place after my oldest child’s first grade year or year of being six-years-old happened.) In the process of putting together a synopsis of the year for her scheduled evaluation, I was panicking. The thoughts going through my head were all about whether or not she was going to meet the standards of other first-graders, would she be ahead or behind, did I leave anything out…and then I realized that because we were not in the traditional schools, the burden on me was not to meet another institution’s standard – indeed it was simply to show that my child was learning, making progress and developing. A flourishing six-year-old looks different depending on what part of the country a child lives in, whether they go to public, private or home school and, as long as I can show growth and learning, we are fine. This was so freeing!

Since that time, my philosophy of learning and my comfort-level with implementing it at home as grown significantly. I no longer think it necessary to wonder what they are doing over at the school. We have our own school and our standards are what matter. I try to focus on my own children’s gifts and interests and steering them toward achievement in those areas. Of course, I keep an eye on reading, writing, and arithmetic, but these are done in ways that appeal to each child.

Looking at the difference between the words “schooling” and “education” has been very helpful for me in breaking free of the fear of not measuring up. In fact, I’ve started to use home-education instead of homeschooling in order to clarify what we do.

www.webster-dictionary.org defines the two words thus:
Schooling: Instruction in school; tuition; Education in an institution of learning
Education: the act or process of education; the result of educating, as determined by the knowledge skill or character, acquired;

See, education can happen anywhere, anytime – and it sometimes looks different from schooling! Education addresses the “knowledge, skill, or character acquired”, not simply where such learning is taking place.

Our family tried having schedules similar to school days: Math @ 9 for 40 minutes, Spelling followed for 30 minutes, etc. It’s nearly impossible to adhere strictly to a schedule like this while at home. There are usually interruptions, younger kids to tend to, deliveries, visitors and the list goes on. It’s hard to feel like a success when Spelling is interrupted every day by the mail delivery!

Realizing that home education means almost every day looks different has been enlightening. Learning to relax with that and still feel like we are moving forward is essential. Home-education is a total lifestyle – education mixed with getting dressed and doctor’s appointments, learning at the grocery store and while waiting for a sibling to finish her dance lesson. Dinnertime conversations are key and often constitute a class, when we spend the dinner discussing certain topics.

Especially for young children, this lifestyle promotes a love of learning that naturally translates into more intentional study as the child grows. I have found that my kids, far from running wild and untaught, are able to talk easily about many subjects and are learning and growing daily.

So, while this lifestyle isn’t easy and the responsibility great, the burden lies not in measuring up to the re-creation of “school” at home. Rather, the weight of home-education on a parent’s back is that of educating, molding & directing children to become contributing members of society, fulfilling their God-given roles on earth. It’s not always the answer folks expect to their queries about the challenge, but I find it to be true.