The five Ws and an H of Homeschooling. Who, What, Where, When, Why and How.
What are the five Ws and an H?
Who can homeschool? YOU can!
Even if your child is in public or private school, every parent IS a homeschooler, as it is their responsibility to oversee their child’s education and make the decisions as to how that will get accomplished.
What is homeschooling? It basically means you take the active part of your responsibility as your child’s parent/guardian to direct their education, usually not in an institution of some kind, including schools.
Where does homeschooling take place? Frankly, anywhere and everywhere. The grocery store, a baseball game or in the kitchen for math. The garden, the kitchen, or outdoors for science. Listening to or reading books, watching a movie or having a conversation for language arts/English. Perusing an atlas when listening to the news to identify locations of events, plotting a trip on a map, or measuring an area and drawing a map for both math and geography. (While you’re at it, why not make it a treasure map?) Museums, factories, artisan stores, markets or fairs, libraries, the fire house, a local farm, your favorite eat-out spot… The possibilities are endless for opportunities when you are focused on your child’s education, whether you homeschool or not.
An example of where homeschooling can take place was at the grocery store. My 8-year-old had just done a study on the heart’s blood supply and made a model of it using graham crackers and marshmallows. She saw the bags of cleaning fluid and said, “Look Mommy. It’s oxygenated blood and deoxygenated blood!”
When does homeschooling take place? All the time. When brushing teeth, eating, reading, talking, watching tv, taking a walk, attending a recital or play or wedding, writing, recapping stories of play and adventures, studying, bookwork…
Why homeschool? That is a question that only you can answer. People choose to educate their own children for a variety of reasons including dissatisfaction with the available school choices, distance from schools, and others. If you’re reading this, you are already looking for options.
How do you go about beginning? Start by asking your children “Why?” or “What do you think?” to get them thinking. When they ask you something you don’t know, let them know that, and together, find the answer. In the following posts, we’ll touch more on the “How”. Before moving to another post, remember that you CAN homeschool! 
If you would like to talk with someone who can encourage you as you begin, drop me a line.
