Not Another Homeschool Blog

It looks like The View has changed it's stance on homeschooling.  There was a time when Joy Behar would dismiss homeschoolers, and announce they were weird and unsocialized. Now that Jenny McCarthy is on the panel, now there is real spokesperson for homeschooling on the show. Don't know that many homeschoolers will respect Ms. McCarthy and her past projects, but I'm glad that homeschooling actually has a younger, hipper, less judgmental face. This clip has a guest, Diane Farr,  discussing homeschooling, along with Jenny discussing her own homeschooling journey.  

I realize it has been over a decade since my kids were in public school, since I started homeschooling them for 2nd and 4th grade.  So, maybe I'm a little naive. But I am having trouble understanding why people are arguing with various Governors and Mayors about schools not being closed .  Last week, it was Atlanta. His week, New York. In one specific tweet fight, Al Roker complained, "So my daughter's NYC public school is being let out early,... Is it worth putting kids' Safety at risk?"  For goodness sakes, he is Al Frikken Roker.  If anyone should have the authority in his own home to make a weather call, it should be Al Roker. So what about you? The National Weather Service is interrupting all your favorite daytime talk shows, soaps, and syndicated comedy programs to tell you that you are about to experience hell on earth in a major weather event.  Do you A. Watch the new scroll and check the internet waiting to hear weather or not your school is c...

I really want to delete the last series of blogs I wrote.  Those of the types of things I don't want to deal with. I don't want to think it, and I certainly don't want to write it.  Let's see how long it stays live.  I read a comment yesterday where it was stated that when dealing with touchy subject like this, one person chooses to always opt out, saying "I'm not having THIS conversation".  It seems so wise. But since I am discussing all of the hard stuff right now, I might as well discuss my the difficult phenomenon of being the lone homeschooler at the party. I feel like a party game. I don't know a better way to explain it.  I show up at a party.  There are niceties and introductions, and then the question is asked.... "where do (did) your kids go to school"?  I answer "they are (were)

This is my final word on being black and homeschooling.  For the foreseeable future. You can catch up here: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 I just don't feel like I ever got to the meat of what I wanted to say. In all my personal struggles through the loneliness and relative isolation I felt, I have to say that I am ecstatic with the results. Sure bad things happened: Tensions around the 2008 and 2012 elections as I live in a mostly white Southern Conservative Community, and am none of these things.  A few individuals making my race an issue in what they felt were personal conversations... "you know, just chatting over differences, iron sharpening iron".  Not always feeling included socially, and sometimes feeling like my kids were barely included. People saying dumb stuff to me that barely hid certain biases. Meanwhile, good things happened:

Everything about being black and homeschooling was hard. From my early assessment on Being Black and Homeschooling , to my thoughts on looking back Here and Here, I can see now that I have been on a journey, that took a heads down and power though approach. Don't get me wrong.  I liked homeschooling.  I really did. I don't regret it at all, and I know it was the best thing for my kids, but the journey felt lonely... it really did.  In the beginning, the only person I felt that really supported me family-wise was my husband... after all, it was originally his idea.  As for family and friends... I was told to spank my kids, and send them back to school. Others just called me crazy. And some said I was "a mess" for homeschooling... whatever that is supposed to mean. Very fortunately, I had some support of a couple of fellow church members who homeschooled, and they gave me guidance for a while, but that did not last long.  First, I did not feel that I fit ...

Before you read this, I would like you to go back and read parts 1 and 2 of this series.  Part I, On Being Black and Homeschooling written in 2005, and Part 2 Being written directly before this piece. Now continues part 3: Over time, the conversations surrounding the 2008 election faded, and I came back to center, leaving behind the edge I felt for being singled out as a misfit black Democrat trying to homeschool my kids among people who were neither of these things.  I never fully felt completely in sync with my previous group of homeschoolers again, but felt comfortable enough to be me, and allow my kids to

After 8 years and 3 months, I think it is finally time to revisit one of my most popular blog posts On Being Black and Homeschooling .  Looking back, I can see that I was a bit naive in some of my points such as I did not see the point or need to join a black homeschooling group, and at the same time I may have been too sensitive to whether or not my children and I were welcome in a homeschool community where WE WERE THE DIVERSITY. But a funny thing happens when you turn 40... as I did 5 years ago... or at least in my case... you stop caring what people think of you.  You stop asking permission to move forward or to be included. You just do you... and so I did. This made the last 5 years of my homeschooling journey a little easier, as I just focussed on what was best for my kids, and did not let race or attitudes affect any of it. It wasn't easy though. As much as I wanted to just be a homeschooler first, and leave all ethnicity out of it, I was hit with a