Do We Homeschool?

This article was featured in our weekly newsletter, the Liberator Online. To receive it in your inbox, sign up here. The Libertarian Homeschooler (Me): Do we do school at home? The Young Statesman (YS): No. Me: Do we homeschool? YS: No. Me: Do we unschool? YS: No. Me: What are we doing? YS: Not fitting in that box everyone likes things to fit things in. Me: What are some words that would describe what you do from day to day? YS: I’m doing. I’m not learning about what I want to do, I’m doing what I want to do. Me: Like what? YS: Accompanying choirs. Proctoring. Performing. Composing. I’m working for people who do what I want to do. Me: And they’re helping you decide how to spend your time and where to put your effort. This is what we’re doing with our older son and what we’re starting with our younger son. It’s not school, it’s not homeschool, it’s not unschooling, it’s not waiting, it’s not preparing. It’s none of that. It’s figuring out what they’re interested in, how they want to serve others, who they want to be, and assisting them as they go about creating themselves and their work. If they need something as they go, we help them get it. Whether it’s competency in algebra, speech lessons, table manners, an internship with someone who is familiar with development and PR, a seminar on cottage industry, dancing lessons, composition curriculum, a trip to the organ builder, whatever. We facilitate. We help them picture where they’re going and help them make the vessel that will get them there. We find people to teach them how to navigate, to sail, to take to the oars when the wind won’t serve, and help them recalibrate as they go. We’re not homeschoolers. We’re dreamers and we’re ship builders and we’re navigators.