Kids' Opinion of Homeschool

Just this past week - one of the boys told his sister that she needed to change her behavior or she would 'have' to go to public school and sit at a desk all day.

We saw a friend from the charter school we used to be a part of today. She asked how homeschool was going. I answered that I loved it, while a couple of the kids chimed in that they liked it and it was 'going good'.

I mentioned the possibility of getting a job and asked the kids what they thought about it. The first line of questions was about school and that they'd have to go back to public school. They even said that they liked being homeschooled better and that they liked having me be their teacher.

I'm grateful my kids like what we're doing and feel good about it. It was great today to have a chance to hike and be out in nature with some other homeschool families. I'm sure a couple of people that saw us wondered why 'those kids' weren't in school. I'm also glad that homeschool is getting more acceptable.

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3...

I talked with an elementary student just a couple of days ago. They have already begun their testing for the end of the year. I realized that there's about another month and a half of public school. So, it seems like there's about a month's worth of testing and then the kids can disengage just in time for summer break to begin. No wonder kids forget a few things during the summer - they've been given the expectation to turn off the learning. Hmm...
Actually, the first thing that came to mind while I was talking with this friend is 'that's a lot of testing'. I don't remember having a month's worth of tests when I was in elementary school. It was a week at most when we were in high school. And even then, it seemed like it was for only part of the day, and it was truly at the end of the school year. I think we had the last day to clean out lockers, sign yearbooks and then go home early.
I think our family will just keep learning, exploring, and creating - even through the summer.