Written by contributor Sarah Small of SmallWorld at Home

A note from Jamie: As we begin to contemplate and plan for fall, it’s good to keep in mind that we’re not bound by grade levels like traditional schools are! Enjoy this repost from Sarah, which originally published on July 1, 2011.

Ask a homeschooled kid the innocuous “What grade are you in?” and you’ll often get a furrowed brow and an answer with a question mark at the end.

“Fourth?”

This response can be alarming to grandparents, non-homeschooling friends, and the cashier at Walmart. Their raised eyebrows ask, “He doesn’t know what grade he’s in?”

Well, no. Not exactly. That hallmark of traditional schooling—the passing from grade to grade—isn’t of utmost importance in homeschooling. The age/grade correlation just isn’t necessarily present.

If your nine-year-old is reading at a post-college level, does that make him 23? Who decided, after all, that picture books are for preK-3^rd grade, that pre-algebra is done in middle school, and that high school takes four years?

Who came up with all this stuff? I don’t know the answer to that.

What I do know is that homeschooling allows us to provide learning opportunities for our children at their own pace.

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Happy 4th of July to my American readers! I hope your days are filled with cookouts, family, and friends.

If you have a moment of downtime somewhere in the midst of your celebration, I’d love to invite you over to (in)courage, a faith-based online community for women, where my e-book Mindset for Moms: From Mundane to Marvelous Thinking in Just 30 Days is being featured this week as part of their Summer Recommended Reads series.

Today I’m writing about freedom–in motherhood and in our minds.

From my post:
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The following is a guest post written by Kari Patterson of Sacred Mundane.

I am a homeschooling beginner. My only claim to expert knowledge is the fact that I was homeschooled thirty years ago, was raised by a precious homeschool pioneer, and sat clutching my doll at 5 years of age while The Teaching Home magazine snapped our photo for its cover.

I know, hardly expert status. With just two young pupils of my own, I am very much a beginner. Yes, I’ve read books. I’ve learned from Jamie and the other contributors here. My son reads and writes and we practice life curriculum every day. But one of my greatest homeschooling goals is to remain a beginner and help my children do the same.

Instead of raising experts, I hope to raise beginners.

Why? Am I celebrating mediocrity? Encouraging ignorance?

Not at all. But I believe being a beginner has its advantages. Consider a few:
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Written by contributor Sarah Small of SmallWorld at Home

We homeschoolers are an opinionated bunch. After all, at some level one of the reasons we home educate this is because we want to do things our own way. And, well, let’s get down to it:

We often think our way is the best way, and we want to share that with as many of you as possible.

We are prepared to opine on any number of topics, from science programs to parenting philosophies to clothing choices. We like to raise our eyebrows, give a little shake or nod of our heads, and give you knowing smiles.

Sometimes we turn our backs on you because you are a different breed of homeschooler—an “other.” “Otherness” has to do with anyone who does things differently than “we” do: from wild, unruly unschoolers; to middle-of-the-road eclectic folks; to rigid A Beka advocates; to tight-lipped tomato-stakers (please note: popular stereotypes listed here intentionally to make a point and not reflective of personal opinion). Pick whatever category you fall into, and the rest are “others.”
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A note from Jamie: We’re halfway through our month in England, and you can catch up with all our adventures over on Steady Mom. A special highlight this past week was visiting Charlotte and Emily Bronte’s home! I’m enjoying some of the best advantages of homeschooling at the moment, which brought to mind this post. It originally published on March 7, 2011.

Six years ago, after I became a mother for the first time, I began getting to know other mothers in the community where we lived.

A few of these seasoned moms homeschooled their kids. Back then, I didn’t know anything about homeschooling. Like many, I thought it seemed just a little…different. Odd. Strange.

Most of the time when I overheard these women talking about their educational choice, and why they were doing it, the reasons seemed to have one thing in common.

Can you guess what it was?
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