hunh? homeschool?

A photo from 20 years ago, our first year of homeschool: Dan is the upside down one. John's in the red shirt. Heidi's grinning, and Kirsten is the tiny pipsqueak. Their dad is the one cleaning guts from a pumpkin. (Can you believe that linoleum?? Holy cow. It came with the house.)

I thought I could never homeschool either. I didn't even WANT to, but felt like I had to do something for my poor kid who was flunking out of 4th grade. All washed up in life by 4th grade, how heartbreaking is that? I couldn't handle it.

But I was worried about how this was going to work. I was way crankier than any teacher he'd ever had! John and I argued all the time, and he was not a big cooperator, Mr. Sassy and Independent. I was just desperate for a solution to this school mess though--and finally figured I couldn't do any worse by him.

Well he and his brother were pulled from school, and we began.

And he and I yelled at each other as much as we ever did, and his confidence did nothing but go up. Apparently it's way less intimidating to get to hollering with your mother than to endure disdainful, critical treatment from a teacher.

We did come to believe in homeschool wholeheartedly and to love the lifestyle and family created by it. It's more abstract than literal and I obviously can't convey this to anyone. It's not about curriculum or activities. It's more about freedom and inner life. You kind of have to be there to get it.

When people tell me they could never homeschool, I tell them, "I thought that too. I'll bet you could. You'd be surprised." love, Val

Twenty years later