Well, now...

Hello kids. It's a fine Saturday and my blog has been terribly neglected these last several months. Sorry 'bout that. I've been wanting to write on one particular subject - so here I am!

We've been attending graduations - and it's been fun. One niece and one nephew have graduated, and so have a few homeschooling friends. It's a pleasure to see the hopes and dreams in the eyes of a graduate.

But that is not the topic I have been wanting to write about. Actually my topic is regarding homeschooling. Just when I thought I'd "heard it all" in regards to the misconceptions surrounding homeschooling, I had someone throw me a curve ball the other day. I'm still chuckling - here's what happened:

I was talking to an older woman in our community, and well, she's kind of a "busy-body". She was interrogating, I mean, questioning me about homeschooling, and then she asked, "Is it true that homeschoolers get $7,000 per year, per child?"

Is your mouth gaping open like mine was?

Then I started to laugh. I laughed and laughed. I said, "I've never heard that one before! If that were true, EVERYONE would be homeschooling!" And she went on to say she didn't think it was true and how she didn't think our family would "do" that and how she'd just heard that from someone else and told them it probably wasn't true...

Anyway, I went on to explain that the public schools get anywhere from $7,000 to $14,000 per child that lives in their district (whether or not they are homeschooled) - which is one of the reasons we have a census - and another reason we are required to report that we are homeschooling. It's simply a funding issue. This is one of the issues surrounding school choice vouchers as well. As far as I know, there is not a single state that would allow homeschoolers to pocket that money.

Chuckle.

Over the years we've answered a lot of questions about homeschooling, and I certainly don't mind. I was very curious about homeschooling myself at one time. I'd never heard that particular misconception before though, and it surprised me that anyone would think that was a possibility. Usually people ask questions about socialization, testing, special needs, our daily schedule, curriculum - stuff like that.

So, for those of you who have questions about homeschooling (if anyone is still checking this blog) ask away! I might not know the answer, but I can find it out! I'm curious what other questions might be lingering in people's minds - and now that I know I have not "heard it all" in our 12 years of homeschooling so far, I'd like to know if there is anything else I haven't been asked.