You might be a homeschooler if the kids get suspicious when you try a new recipe. Child: “What’s for breakfast?” Mom: “German pancakes!” Child (almost accusingly): “Are we learning about Germany today?”
You might be a homeschooler if you’ve discovered that demonstrations on Bernoulli’s Law also make for great Glamour Shots.
You might be a homeschooler if “investigating fall colors” isn’t a classroom activity on paper, but an exploratory adventure in a river full of salmon, surrounded by turning leaves, while barefoot and pretending to be a hobbit.
You might be a homeschooler if when you created a simulated archeological dig in your backyard for the kids to learn from, you actually contributed to a possible real future dig… because some of the things you buried were never recovered.
You might be a homeschooler if you spend a morning convincing your children that you’ll pay more for their baby teeth than the Tooth Fairy will, so they should sell them to you for a science experiment. You then collect everyone’s teeth for over a year.
You might be a homeschooler if you sacrifice your regular delightful kitchen smells for the greater educational good in an experiment involving potent purple cabbage juice and the reactions of various malodorous chemicals rotting old baby teeth.
You might be a homeschooler if your geography lessons really make an impression. After boarding a train bound for the “North Pole” at Thanksgiving, my 7-year-old asked, “How long is this train ride? Because the North Pole is at the top of the earth and we’re in Idaho.”
You might be a homeschooler if traffic routinely slows down in front of your house as the neighbors try to figure out just what you’re doing now. (In this case, they were gawking at our guest speaker and his bagpipe demonstration, which was much too loud to be done indoors.)
You might be a homeschooler if you buy coffee filters even though you’re a Mormon, because they’re great for art projects.
You might be a homeschooler if you know that homeschoolers are social people, too. Whatever path you choose, you can find friends along the way.
To see Sasha’s first edition of “You Might Be a Homeschooler,” go here.
You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. I also have a Yahoo! group dedicated to incorporating the gospel into all aspects of schooling. To join the group, go here
Thanks!
- Sasha