yuli womie

>>>I am afraid I might scare her if I explain what we
do on a daily basis,
but I don't want to be deceptive. Has anyone been in a
similar situation?
If so, how did you handle it?<<<

I tell them about deschooling, too, letting them know
that it's well worth the time to read the magazines
and books and do the internet searches and figure out
what works for them. But nothing beats meeting people
and getting face to face support and encouragement.
I'd send her to homeschool groups and introduce her to
other homeschoolers.

>>>Michigan is a piece of cake to homeschool in for
now. We want to keep
it
that way! For those in Michigan that haven't seen
this yet read the
following:<<<

Wow, that was an eye-opener! When my son was still in
school, he took the 5th grade MEAP at age 8 (because
he'd skipped grades) and did well enough to get a
commendation from the governor. Whoop dee doo. I tell
you all this not to brag but to assure you the MEAP
isn't all that hard a test. HOWEVER! Whether or not
homeschooled kids will do well on the MEAP is not the
problem. The problem is having to do something so
ridiculous. Here's the thing: each school in Michigan
gets state funds based on HOW WELL THEY'RE DOING on
the MEAP. Isn't that awful? Anyway, what this document
says is they want to have homeschooled kids' MEAP
scores included in each district's batch of scores.
That's scary to me beyond the loss of freedom. It
seems like a) they want to cash in (literally) on the
success of homeschooling. Ah, homeschooling success
funding public schools! How ironic! And b)
homeschooled kids who *don't* do well are going to get
a LOT of hassle, just as kids who don't do well in
school do. In high school in this state, you take
those tests over and over and over and over until you
do well. More irony: wouldn't you *think* that kids
who weren't doing well should be spending their time
in class instead of repeating the tests? ARGH! So
completely messed up....

>>>I told her my kids don't go to school. She sounded
surprised. "They don't?" I said they learn at
home.<<<

One time a woman asked my daughter if she was skipping
school. My daughter took it literally and said yes.
The woman said, "You ARE?" and stared at me. I didn't
know what to say so I just smiled.

I used to say we homeschooled, because that's well
understood in our area. But now I just say they don't
go to school. And recently someone questioned why not
and I said my kids were autodidacts. The person didn't
know what that meant and looked at them with pity. She
asked more questions that made me realize she thought
I meant they were AUTISTIC. :) We got that
misunderstanding straightened out and the woman asked
my daughter what she likes to study. My daughter said,
"Right now I like to study ancient Egypt and zoology."
Hee hee! That shut the woman up! :)

But what if she'd said she likes to study Archie comic
books and old Star Trek videos?

What do all your kids say when people ask what grade
they're in? Do they just say 3rd if they're 8, or do
they start explaining about being homeschooled?
Because usually people who ask that are just making
small talk. Is it our responsibility to demystify
homeschooling by telling everyone we meet we do it? Or
is it ok to just say 3rd grade?

Juli, who is sorry this is so long.


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Valerie Stewart

What do all your kids say when people ask what grade
they're in? Do they just say 3rd if they're 8, or do
they start explaining about being homeschooled?
Because usually people who ask that are just making
small talk. Is it our responsibility to demystify
homeschooling by telling everyone we meet we do it? Or
is it ok to just say 3rd grade?

**It all depends on the situation. If it's someone I know and we have time
to talk (and they act like this isn't just standard kid questioning) then I
explain unschooling. If it's just some person I'll probably never talk to
again we give them their grade levels. If I can remember what they are. I've
gotten funny looks when I have to ask the kids.

Valerie in Tacoma