The Punctual Homeschool Family

You may be wondering why I have posted an impossibility as my title.  Even my family has never been too good with time, unless my dad was responsible for driving when I was younger...

So what are some of the classic lines you will hear from a homeschool family regarding time and what do they mean?  I have listed a few quotes with translations to help you understand how to deal with a homeschool family that is usually late.

"We are five minutes away"

Translation: "We left five minutes ago.  We will be there in about 15-20 minutes."

"Let's meet at around 1 pm."

Translation: "Expect us to be there between 1:30 and 2:00."

"The event will last for 2 hours."

Translation: "The event will start 10 minutes late, because we have to wait for everyone else to get here.  Also, we never timed the performance, but seriously it's probably much closer to 3.5 hours."

I give you this information not to scare you, but to prepare you.  This vital information and has helped me deal with those who are not so time conscious in my life.

Thanks for reading!

Homeschool Rap

Ok, I have never been much of a fan of rap, but I think if I was, this would be my favorite song:

In general though, homeschoolers never listen to rap.  They prefer oldies and some modern contemporary songs...at least until college age.

Legality of Homeschooling

Here are some of the difficulties faced with homeschooling depending on the state that you live in:

Homeschool Style Lunch

Have you ever experienced a Homeschool Style Lunch (HSL) before?  In case you are wondering what this, I have listed the definition below:

Homeschool Style Lunch is any lunch meal prepared by a member of the family in which experiments and guessing can ruin the food.  Example: My youngest sister served up a Homeschool Style Lunch when she added twice the amount of cheese required for Macaroni and Cheese (It tasted like paste).

These are to be avoided at all costs, or be prepared for an early supper.  Eating two suppers to compensate is not unheard of.

 

Homeschooling and Sports

Can a homeschooler play on the local sports team?

Depends.  Some states are passing legislation similar to this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/tim-tebow-homeschool-law-gains-momentum-in-virginia/2012/01/23/gIQAFAypOQ_blog.html

The alternate route is to join a homeschool league.  Most schools schedule them as exhibition games at this point, but that is also beginning to change a bit.

Shouldn't You Be in School?

"Shouldn't you be in school?"

I remember hearing this question many times growing up.  Whether it was at a fast food restaurant, bank, grocery store, etc, I heard it pretty much everywhere I went.  When I was in grade school, my siblings and I thought it would be humorous if we invented crazy stories as to why we were not in school.  Our ideas ranged form not knowing how to speak English to how we were recent college graduates.  We would plot out exactly what we would say and rehearse it in the car during our trips.  My parents though, were not as amused by our discussion and refused to collaborate with us. 

Teaching Degrees for Homeschool Parents?

Yes, I have finally returned to blogging after a rather long absence.  My first task will be to answer another question from browneyeddog.  Here is his comment on my last blog post: "I assume your parents were your teachers at home-did they need any qualifications before starting your home schooling? Also, do you feel that you received a better (higher level) of schooling than the average high school?"

The first question is easy.  No, my parents did not need any qualifications to teach.  They were supplied with detailed syllabuses and books from the program that we were enrolled in and never put together a course for us, which made teaching a bit easier for them.  However, I remember a few times when I was in second and third grade that my father thought some of the history tests seemed too easy, which made him believe that it was his duty to give us harder tests...

The second question is a little harder to answer.  Do I think I had a better education because I was homeschooled?  If this refers to receiving a strong faith based education, then yes, I believe wholeheartedly that my education was better than an average high-school.  However, academically is slightly different.  I believe I excelled studying at home and being able to advance at my own pace, rather than the pace of a whole class.  In that sense it was better for me, but I also believe that being homeschooled slowed me down a little going into college because I lacked the classroom setting experience.  This was not a really big deal though, as I think I have adapted pretty easily after my first semester.  Overall, I think my education was better for me than going to an average high-school.

Questions or comments?  Please reply, and I will get back to you as soon as I can.