When people think of homeschoolers they tend to think of the typical American family, only with more kids. As homeschooling becomes more and more mainstream we will start to see as many diverse homeschooling families as we see in the public or private school sector. Many single parents, who might otherwise consider homeschooling, believe their marital status excludes them from this wonderful educational option. But with perseverance, flexibility and a strong network of support, single parent homeschooling can be done, and done well.
Instead of needing parents to be teachers, kids need teachers to get out of the way of their learning. Homeschooling is not about a teacher-student relationship. There are people who are trying to recreate school at home. For the rest of us, though, we an see the school model is broken, and we are not recreating it at home. For us, homeschooling is about the parent-child relationship.
A great primer on how to get the most out of attending a homeschool conference. Details who should go with you, how to prepare for the event, convention manners, what to expect at the convention, networking opportunities, and what to do once the conference is over.
One of the most important duties of parents is to help their children to discover and pursue new interests, retaining the love of learning that is almost universal in young children and almost universally extinct in conventionally educated adults. Standardised curricula, and the stultifying educational hoops that schoolchildren have to jump through, sabotage this aim. This can cause trouble for parents who have to satisfy other people ... that they are educating their children properly. Under pressure, they may slide into a "homeschooling" mentality that distorts and damages their children's education.