15 years ago homeschooling wasn’t all that popular. It was for hippies, survivalists, and religious fanatics (or so I thought). I did not fit into any of those categories, But, there I was pulling my kindergartener out of of public school anyway.

I checked out 2 different homeschool support groups and neither seemed to have hippies, survivalists, or religious fanatics as members. They were just normal moms that happened to be educating normal kids at home. The larger group had 25 or so families, the smaller had 6. Make that 7, because that’s the one we joined.

These awesome ladies helped me so very much. They taught me to breathe, relax, and pray. They prepped me on how to answer all the opposition questions that would come my way.  You know those questions, “What about socialization?” or “How will they get into college?” , etc (insert eye rolling here). They encouraged me and built me up.

This homeschool support group must not have been alone in encouraging newbies.  The number of homeschoolers in our country is now over the 2.5 million mark. Families are seeing home education as a viable option to traditional schooling. The opposition questions are still being asked but not as often and are now mixed with some very positive comments. It’s not so weird anymore.

Oh, and by the way, throughout the course of our 15 years homeschooling, I’ve happily learned to be a hippie, a survivalist, and a religious fanatic.  betty jo