Homeschooling Myth #3

Myth #3 People that homeschool have a lot of free time so let's go ask them to do stuff for us! They are home all day aren't they?

Did you read Myth #2 yet? That should settle this one for sure. With all that I mentioned you can surely see why this is not true. Although the average school day (in public or private school) is about 6 hours the homeschool day is usually shorter. At a school that 6 hours has many interruptions. At the start and end of each class time there will be a bit of talking, shuffling the books, getting settled, getting ready to go, announcements, moving to another classroom,etc. We don't have a lot of that since we don't change classrooms. In school, there is a lot of repetition. It is not possible for ALL students to be at the same level. Some students 'get it' while others are still grasping at the concept. As homeschoolers we can customize a lot more with a smaller amount of students. That cuts our school time down a lot. We never need 6 hours!

There is a trade off though. While students are at a school location they will not be going to the grocery store with their mother, going to the library for more school books or videos, going to the post office or bank, paying a bill, doing laundry/ironing, running outside to see a really cool black & yellow spider or fascinating mushroom their sister found while mowing, or doing chores (like emptying the dishwasher, sweeping, or taking care of laundry) or many other things. We also fit into our days driving to and from activities, field trips, lessons, dr. & dentist appointments, orthodontist appointments, etc. All of these are scheduled & have to happen at a certain time.

Most homeschoolers have to make a schedule for their school. They don't have to be as rigid all the time but as with most people if we don't make a schedule and set goals it is hard to get things accomplished. We also have to have a basic time frame to work in. Sometimes that translates in to certain hours for school like 9-2 with a lunch break or they don't answer the phone during the times they are 'schooling'.

Sometimes homeschool Moms give in to the guilt but after a while we usually realize that we have to say no to some things in order to make our school successful. There is enough going on in our lives (just like the Moms that work full time and/or have their children in public or private school) that adding a lot of extras that other people would like us to do just will not work. Not to mention we don't want to look like the Mom at the top of this page. ;-)