For those who are pioneers in home education, you likely remember what things were like years ago for homeschoolers. What do you think of the changes over the years and home education as it is today?

 

 It's much, much more relaxed. Not the homeschooling itself, but the attitude about it. I remember taking my kids to the grocery store during a weekday and everyone would look at them like they were playing hookey or sick. 

Also, there's much more support for homeschoolers. We belonged to a homeschool association and that helped, but there were still problems. We always felt as if we were kind of sneaking by the authorities. The Homeschool Defense League (can't remember the exact name) was busy defending homeschooler's rights in the courts. Some states were a lot tougher than others, as I'm sure they are now. The kids had to be very careful about working anywhere because of the child labor laws and certain people who wanted an excuse to accuse us of child abuse or at the least, not raising our children properly.

There was a push for "umbrella" schools to avoid legal battles and no other reason.

We weren't real pioneers like some who fought hard for it, but it wasn't easy for us.

Pat:

I remember taking my kids to the grocery store during a weekday and everyone would look at them like they were playing hookey or sick. 

I remember feeling guilty when I wasn't in school even if I had a legitimate reason. It still crosses my mind when I see kids out in the middle of the day and then I think "Okay they're probably homeschooled.

Pat:

We always felt as if we were kind of sneaking by the authorities. The Homeschool Defense League (can't remember the exact name) was busy defending homeschooler's rights in the courts.

Most of my husband's family works or retired from public education. Education has become so heavily mandated from so many levels, teachers don't have time to just connect with kids. While most kids "make it through" ( I use that term loosely) I'm sure many would have benefited better from homeschooling. My kids went to school and graduated. I had no issues with curriculum per se but I had issues with the behavior and social issues. Not just students but some of the teachers got away with saying and doing inappropriate things which in the long run undercuts the respect aspect.