Comments on: Secular Thursday: No Homeschooler is an Island

By: Annamaria

Annamaria — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 21:53:46 +0000

I worry about that being my future sometimes. I’ve known for a long time that I want to homeschool my future-children, even though I’m far off from having children still (must finish university first, oh, and that finding-someone thing, too).

I do a lot of research online about homeschooling. Often, though, I find too much religion mixed into curricula. I want the structure, but I want it to be secular, and I’ve had (have) a lot of trouble finding that.

Your blog is a nice place for me though, makes me feel at home

By: Kez

Kez — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:31:55 +0000

“Where’s the middle ground? Where are my people? I’m too much of a heathen for most of the homeschoolers and not enough of a free spirit for the rest of them. Where is my tribe?”

I really identify with your comments. I frequently feel that we don’t quite fit in anywhere as far as parenting and homeschooling are concerned. Most ‘mainstreamers’ would see me as very crunchy/hippy because I home birth, breastfeed for more than a year, EC, home educate, don’t belong to a formal religion etc. But the crunchy types think I’m conventional because I’m not into radical unschooling, we (selectively) vaccinate the children, we don’t do non evidence based (AKA alternative) medicine, we aren’t vegetarian or raw foodists or any kind of special diet, etc. Being home schoolers is minority enough, but we don’t seem to fit into any of the normal home ed categories and it is very isolating. Sigh…

By: “Ask a [Smrt] Homeschooler” about the Best and Worst » Smrt Lernins

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:14:44 +0000

[...] though. It has its own host of frustrations and difficulties. I’ve written before about the isolation that a classical, secular homeschooler can experience, my frustrations with religion being so [...]

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:16:54 +0000

Hey! Small world! Friend of Desi here!

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:13:37 +0000

I have a really good bread recipe. It’s just that I’m kinda lazy to make it all the time.

By: Smrt Mama

Smrt Mama — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:38:54 +0000

I’m a minvan-driving cop’s wife, so I’m definitely the suburban mom stereotype in many ways. I also pulled my son from a supposedly excellent public school (we’re in the same county, though I don’t know if you’re city schools or county schools where you are) because of issues with the teacher and complete failure of the school to meet Captain Science’s needs.

Patchfire says you two do band together!

By: JC

JC — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:33:21 +0000

I’m the quintessential “suburban soccer mom”, and I didn’t homeschool from the beginning. After pulling my children from “excellent” public schools for academic reasons (the school’s failure for the younger, the child’s advanced needs for the elder) I’m now a secular homeschooler of (only!) two – and I definitely don’t fit in! I’ve discovered more levels of religious zealots than I even knew existed before we began this journey…

By: Smrt Mama

Smrt Mama — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:18:40 +0000

That is nice to know! Good for you for getting out there and finding your people.

By: Jana

Jana — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:16:12 +0000

I was on my 21st year of basically isolated homeschooling. When I finally started a group. Now we have 12 families that were isolated too. We are all really bonding. It is nice to know that you aren’t alone.

By: Smrt Mama

Smrt Mama — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:33:37 +0000

Also, I was having a rather down week, so don’t think I feel like this all the time.