On Monday, we introduced you to Sally Clarkson. We realize you probably know about her already, but we hope that our interview gave you more insight to Sally and Homeschooling.
Oh…Homeschooling. It becomes a way of life. Our views on the world change in many ways…at least mine have. Long gone are the days of wondering what my children are learning and are they really learning what they should be? Now, we (my husband and I) are in control of that.
Last night, I was at a birthday party. I met some of the most genuine and fun people I have been around in a long time. It was interesting to see how some of the conversation changed a little when they discovered I homeschool. The questions were the usual ones…but, what was great, was their genuine desire to know ‘what we do all day, how I know what they need to learn, etc” and…that no one felt the need to talk anyone into any of the options we have as families. It was just fun.
Through that discussion and the interview with Sally...I began thinking of all of the Homeschoolers who went before us. You know, the ones who homeschool’d their children…when it was REALLY considered the VERY STRANGE thing to do. Those…who helped legalize it. In my own state…Homeschooling has only been legal for 25 years. Hmmm…that means it was legalized when I was in highschool….(did I just say that out loud?)
And then, I began to think of those wonderful Dads and Moms…who have paved and are still paving the way to keep homeschool legal…..and who I would love to sit and chat with. To hear their stories. To hear how they did it and …somehow capture their wisdom.
My question to you this week is multifaceted.
Have you had a chance to meet one of those who paved the road? If so, share the conversation with us! If not, who would you sit down with? Where would you go and what would you REALLY want to know?!
I can’t wait to read all of your comments!
Rebecca is a Hip Homeschool Moms Senior Team Member and blogs at Mom’s Mustard Seeds
You would love this article here …
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/26/Worldandnation/Homeschooling__It_s_n.shtml
(my site is down today btw)
and yes, i still wish you were heading to Relevant
That is a GREAT article! Thanks for posting it! Yes, Relevant would have been great! I will be at the Apologia Live Retreat in Atlanta….really looking forward to that…and well….maybe one other conference this year, but I’m still working out a few details!!!!
oops, forgot i was on HipHomeschool, and thought i was posting that for Rebecca.
I am proud to say that my family is a second generation homeschool ! My parents started homeschooling my sister and myself in 1988. We were definitely thought of as “that weird family that keeps their kids at home.” There was only one other family in our area who homeschooled. I know my mom spent endless hours finding materials, making lesson plans, shuttling us back and forth to the library, ( the best resource before the internet!), and just generally keeping us on our toes! This was during the time when most people thought women ought to be out working, whether they needed to or not, and she got lots of un-asked for opinions. She was always proud to say , “Here is what we are doing. And here is why we are doing it!” She is still very involved in my family’s homeschool , and is always ready to answer questions, and encourage people who are “new” to the idea, or just struggling. My mom is definitely a homeschool hero!
What a blessing to have a Mom as a Homeschool Mentor!!! Did she have any? Were any of her close friends homeschool Moms? Sounds like she was in the Pioneer age and helped many pave the way!!! Thanks for sharing!
Yes. She was friends with Mrs. Seawall ( can’t remember her first name….) She was a wonderful person to have for a mentor because she had 11 children, all but two school age, and just made it seem so easy! We didn’t get to visit with them very often because they lived quite a ways away from us. But it was awesome, because she always had great ideas about how to make it all work! And despite what people always said , the children were perfectly “socialized” and a lot of fun to hang out with!
I would have loved to have met the late Sono Harris.
http://www.joshharris.com/2010/07/sono_harris_is_with_jesus.php
Yes, it sounds like she was an amazing woman! Thank you for sharing that post!
A friend has been homeschooling for 14 years, and she has been wonderful in helping me with all my question.
She has also let us borrow her school curriculm when her kids are done with it.
She also does all are record keeping for us!!
We have been trully blessed with all her help and I know we could not have done it without her!
Tammy, She sounds like an amazing friend and wonderful person to know!
I would like to sit down with Debra Bell, who wrote the book, The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling. I don’t think she considers herself to be a pioneer, but she was one of the first in her area to homeschool. She had a mentor in her church who had children she admired. I read her book and could identify with her and her choice to homeschool. She seems so organized, proficient, and knowledgable about the education and homeschool field. I’d love to talk with her and find out all the advice she can give.
Kristen,
Oh, did you know that she will be at all four of the Apologia LIVE events! I was blessed to have lunch with the women who work so hard behind the scenes (at Apologia) on Saturday…and they explained the amazing retreats they have lined up this year…one thing that really appealed to me…is that it is for homeschool Moms and the speakers ARE homeschool Moms…like Debra Bell and when they are not speaking, they are not going to be at a table with a rope around it…saying
O NOT TOUCH…they will be sitting out in the audience…with us….praying with us and chatting with us…. Here is the link!!! I will be attending the one in Atlanta and would love to meet you! http://blog.apologia.com/live/biographies/
Your experience at the party and your questions reminded me of the recent HSLDA article about the up and coming “Third Wave” of persecution the homeschool community can expect soon. http://www.hslda.org/courtreport/V26N6/V26N601.asp
Few new homeschoolers today understand the sacrifices made by those who have gone before, and what it took for them to bring homeschooling into the better accepted option it is today. I remember when I started with my children 14 years ago cringing when the neighbor asked why my children were on their way to a park in the afternoon instead of being at the local elementary school.
Liz,
I attended the GHEA conf in May…and they had the lawyer attend who had won the court case that made homeschooling legal in GA….it was amazing to sit there, hear the stories and consider where we are today, to see the changes in our country and somehow….consider that we could end up there again….It’s amazing Moms like you that lead the way and help provide guidance to the ‘newbies’ like me. The torch must be carried!!! Blessings!
In our local area (greater DE/MD/PA) when I started homeschooling in 1995, there was a wonderful support network in place, and a couple hundred families who homeschooled in community, planning field trips, starting clubs, singing together in choirs, etc. There were 2 women serving as president and vice president of the group, and I sat under their guidance at moms’ meetings about scope and sequence for kindergarten (I was just starting out, and didn’t know what “scope and sequence” meant, but it sounded important!). I remember there was a hand-out they gave us that explained how to be polite but protected when a truant officer came to your front door! Then I came back for “How to Start a Learning Co-Op,” and workshops like “What to do when your child doesn’t take to reading like a duck to water.” I learned so much from these moms who had blazed a homeschooling trail years before me!
Over time, we got to know one another better and better as I volunteered for different jobs that needed doing, and eventually our families were co-oping together. I am now thrilled to call these women two of my dearest friends, my blogging-buddies, and my sisters. To Marilyn and Vicki (2 of the “7 Sisters” at our website), thank you for starting me off in the right direction many years ago….and isn’t it wonderful that we no longer have to teach young homeschool moms what to do when the truant officer shows up on your doorstep??
Sabrina,
It sounds like you have surrounded yourself in a beautiful community that lifts one another up! What a blessing!!! The one sad thing, though…is many are living in areas where they do need to know what to say when a truant officer shows up…..So many are blessed to live in areas like you do, though!!!! It is wonderful to live without that fear!
A couple of my friends and I have started a local homeschool group for field trips, fellowship opportunities, and support. Hopefully we will encourage current homeschool families, as well as, new ones. Homeschooling is a blessing!
It sounds like you have a great idea to help others….what a blessing you are! Thank you for sharing your homeschool group information here….perhaps someone else will see what you wrote and be encouraged by it, as well!
I actually consider myself VERY lucky. I had a baby in April and unfortunately she has to be supplemented. Thanks to Human Milk 4 Human Babies, I met up with a woman here in town who just happened to also had a baby in March! After talking, discovered she was also home schooled. Her mother was one of the home school moms in a lawsuit against the school district to take part in bands, etc. When I have a question or need ideas … I go to them!
Marilyn and Rick Boyer were keynote speakers at our state homeschool convention this spring. Hearing their stories made me very thankful to them and others who have helped pave the way for homeschoolers.
I would love the chance to sit down and chat with my youth pastor’s wife – Donna Ward. She was not only actively a part of our teen years as his helper, but she was homeschooling 4 kids AND writing a Canadian history/geography curriculum! Looking back now – as a homeschooling mom of 3 – I have NO idea how she did all she did! She’s amazing and I’m so humbled and blessed that I got to know her before she was known in the homeschooling world. What an amazing woman! I wish we could talk – because I know I’d learn so much from her. <3
I would have loved to have had the chance to meet and sit down with my mother-in-law and pick her brain. She went to be with the Lord before I met my husband but she fought to homeschool him when he was young. He had been to numerous schools and none of them fit his learning style. I would like to know how she juggled homeschooling him, working and keeping up with their home. Basically, I would just like to know how she did “it” and what methods she used to do “it”.