Grace, Lirit and I went to Wal-mart two weeks ago to buy school supplies. We love school supplies. Who doesn't, right?!? I don't know how it is where you live, but here, Wal-mart has a display in the front of the store housing papers containing lists of school supplies required to be purchased by parents for their child(ren)'s upcoming school year. The lists are for specific grades within specific schools with specific school districts. The fact that there isn't a piece of paper in the display labeled SPANISH PEAKS ACADEMY (the name of our little homeschool) is a source of mild frustration for my kiddies. Anyway, those lists include items such as hand sanitizer and tissues, as well as what you would consider traditional school supplies.
I must admit to some trepidation when stepping into the school supply aisles . . . While scanning the shelves and picking out "cool stuff" (since we don't have a government-mandated list), I am hoping that no one will ask any of the questions in the dreaded series of questions . . . What district are you in? What school? What GRADE are you going into? ~ Then, after we've answered these with D70, we homeschool, and dumbstruck looks from my kids who just wish I'd ASSIGN them a grade, ALREADY . . . we hear, Really? I could never homeschool. Is it hard? How much are you monitored by the government? What curriculum do you use? I have a friend who homeschools using ABEKA. Have you ever considered cyber-school? ~ (Cue squirming and some uncomfortable silences) ~ Don't get me wrong. Almost everyone is always VERY NICE, and I understand that they are curious.
It's just that this line of questioning puts me at odds with my inherent compulsion to always TELL THE TRUTH. The curriculum question, if answered honestly, always leads to UNschooling?!? What's that? I've never heard of that!? So, to be completely honest HERE, RIGHT NOW, I sometimes just say, umm . . . we use various, er uh, curriculum items. And since my nose is already beginning to grow, I answer the rest of the questions in the series with things like, yes, homeschooling isn't for everyone, and we fully comply with Colorado's homeschool law (that part's true, of course) and we've been homeschooling for 17 years, long before cyber-schooling came into existence, and it has worked very well for us, AKA, I have two full-grown, fully functional adult daughters. Wanna see pictures?!? lol. Sometimes it's just easier to tell people what they want to hear, ya know?!? And once the school supplies go on clearance, it's really only homeschoolers that you'll find in those aisles . . . And once the kids have been back in school for a few weeks, the line of questioning changes and comes from the check-out clerks . . . What? No school, today? Anyway . . .
After our cart has enough markers, crayons, colored pencils, composition books (we decoupage the covers), Elmer's Glue-All and glue sticks for at least a few months, we stealthily make our way out of the school supply aisles and head over to the safety of the LEGO aisle.
