In Which I Learn That Homeschool = Home's Cool

November 1, 2016

OK, so the first thing you need to know about my host family is that they are a bit unusual. Yesterday I noticed right away that there were school buses running all over the place and kids crowding on down at the corner but none of the younger kids in my host family were awake yet.

That's because they homeschool. Their mom teaches them at home.  They come out and eat breakfast and then they do their lessons. Most kids have nightmares about showing up for school in their pajamas, but this is the normal way they do their morning schoolwork.
They play for a while and have lunch and then do some more lessons.
They don't always do school at home. Here are Ben, Brady and Christopher doing their history work at the coffee shop (not in their pajamas).

One day a week they go to Homeschool Co-op. This is where a bunch of homeschooling families get together and all their kids have a regular school day. The Co-op my host family goes to has about 100 kids.  They have classes, recesses, and lunch lunch; do experiments, learn art, and go on field trips. My host mom is the high school teacher. The students in her class are 8th grade to 12th grade, 13-17 years old. They call their class "Rhetoric," and all week they do TONS of hard homework to prepare for class.  Here is some of the rhetoric class writing genus and difference charts on the board:

 

 They get grades for all that work. At night my host mom grades their work...sometimes with Toby on her lap.

 At first I thought this was a really funny way to do school, but it's not so bad once you get used to it.