When homeschooling moms get together!

One of the things that most surprised me about homeschooling was the isolation. Homeschool moms are pretty much at home for great lengths of time, with their children. Especially with little kids, it’s hard to get out of the house to do field trips or even to get a hair cut! What also surprised me was that connecting with my homeschooling friends would not be as easy as picking up the phone – because homeschoolers are so busy and so focused most phone calls for support, advice and especially chit chat are intrusions into the precious hours available for educating the kids and doing the other necessary household work.

So I am always delighted to share notes and talk to other homeschooling moms, especially moms who are doing high school with their family. Today I had that chance. One of my longtime friends from our local support group had a son playing in the Saturday Soccer League Championship game today and she sat down beside me. We sort of watched the game (which was 0-2) but mostly we chatted about the school year and what was working and what wasn’t for our homeschoolers.

I learned a lot from her. This mom isn’t afraid to change it up, switch curriculum or even stop something mid year if it isn’t working. She’s done everything from Mother of Divine Grace to K-12 and is now happily doing her own thing with a lot of Sonlight. And while she does not feel that she is an expert, she does have two kids enrolled in college – so she must be doing something right.

A few things she said surprised me. She thought K-12 was much more difficult for her to keep on top of than regular homeschooling. Most of the people I know who switched to a charter school did so for it to be easier, not harder! But she found the paper work and accountability to be very demanding on her time. I had been thinking of putting Gabe in ODHELA next year, but I might want to rethink that. I think we both still benefit from sharing lesson time together.

As the school year winds down, it was nice to hear her reflections and think about my own homeschool year, particularly with Sam. It was nice to hear that everyone struggles as we find our way through educating our children every year, even week by week!

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