You probably are thinking I am talking about socialization issues or questions about academic abilities of my kids. Questions from neighbors or well-meaning relatives.

Social media and blogs and the HSLDA newsletters are filled with answers to arm homeschooling parents when faced with these questions and more.

But there is one question, I was certainly not prepared for. This one came from my newly-adult child this evening.

“Mommy, can kids in public school just take a trip or a day off when they want to like we did, or do they have to follow a set calendar?”

Alright, now, I have to tell you that my first thought was, “HOORAY! We did this homeschooling thing right! My children have NO idea what happens in public school!”

My dear children were shocked to learn that in public school you do not have the freedom to just pick up and take a trip to the beach for the day.

Honestly, have you ever just sized up the kids after breakfast and decided that it was a great day for an impromptu trip out into nature? On a weekday? When they “should” be doing lessons. Did they learn anything on that trip? Did you take the opportunity to cement some fact or concept in their heads forever by tying it to something out on that great trip? Probably. Do you think that they will remember something that happened that day, forever? Absolutely!

Back in their very early years, my kids spent a very short number of years in public school. By the time they were old enough to realize what was going on, my husband and the principal knew each other well. It was not a friendly relationship, but that principal had learned that there was only so much of the public education kool-aid that my husband could swallow quietly. Once my children were in second grade, they were allowed to come and go from school when we, as parents, felt the need. My husband negotiated an agreement that allowed us to bring them home, if they would clock in with the rest of the students at the start of the day. We really were in a long, slow goodbye from public education that began the first day of kindergarten. I just needed to get on board, but that is another story.

Tonight, I discovered an unintended consequence of homeschooling. My kids have no clue what public school is like. Both have friends who were in public school, and yet in all the conversations the particulars of public school life never entered the discussion.

Just imagine what will happen in a few short years, Lord willing, they have children of their own. They will never, ever, be able to swallow that public school kool-aid. It will sound so outrageous. School happens for 6 hours a day? The government has decided what my child needs to know, and I have no say? I have to ask permission to take my own child on a trip? Who are you that you think you know better than I, the parent, what my child needs and how they learn?

If you are homeschooling right now, chances are that you have figured out that home is where children belong and if you don’t homeschool, you are missing something truly life-changing.