How To Respond To The Question: ‘No School Today?’

How To Respond To The Question ‘No School Today?’
~ Written by Lusi Austin from That Homeschool Life

It’s one of the most common questions my kids have been asked over the years when we’ve been out and about in the community during school hours: “Is there no school today?”

My kids usually respond happily with, “We are homeschooled!” Sometimes this seems to spark difficult conversation, or pique interest about our choice on home educating our children, but almost ALWAYS it elicits some kind of response.

Prefer to listen?

How To Respond To The Question ‘No School Today?’

1. Light Heartedly

While I’m always happy to share our journey with others (hence my blog!) I have learned that sometimes just responding light-heartedly is the right way to go. I might respond with a cheeky laugh, “The kids are homeschooled…still learning even now!”

I’ve learned over the years that the checkout clerk who asks the ‘no school today?’ question, might just be asking out of politeness or to make small talk. I don’t have to respond with an in-depth answer to everyone I meet.

2. Read the Room (I Mean Tone!)

You’ve heard the saying ‘read the room’ right? Well, I have learned to read the tone with which people ask the question. Sometimes someone might just be making small talk but other times, people respond with something like, “Oh wow! I’ve always wondered about homeschooling!”

When I read the tone, I can hear if someone is genuinely interested or not. To those people, I might respond with something simple like, “Yep, it’s been amazing. Best thing we’ve ever done!” I still don’t need to go into detail about our journey unless someone asks more, and even then I choose how much I care to share.

3. With Gentleness 

There have been times when people ask more questions following the first because they are curious. When someone shows genuine interest, I try and answer their questions gently by sharing a little about our personal homeschooling journey.

For instance, once when my son was staying in hospital, a cleaner began talking to us about traditional schooling and how kids seem to lack basic life skills these days.

I shared a little about some of the specific life skills our children have because of the time and space we have to focus on and hone such skills in our homeschooling journey. She commented that she really liked the sound of that.

I wasn’t trying to convince her that homeschooling is the one and only way, but I could tell she appreciated hearing our lived experience. Sometimes it is helpful for people to hear positive stories from actual homeschoolers.

 4. Understand It’s Not Your Job to Convert People

Over the years some people have said not-so-nice things about homeschooling to us. Usually I’ve found they are repeating common myths about homeschooling that they have heard before.

If it feels right, I may share a few of our own positive experiences, but I’ve also come to recognise that sometimes people have certain perceptions. Regardless of how untrue the words are, it’s not my job to convince or convert people.

In fact, sometimes trying to do so has been a waste of my time and energy.

Being discerning has helped me learn to respond with something like, “That’s definitely not been our experience” and leave it at that when someone says something negative about homeschooling. It has been freeing to recognise the difference.

 5. Know Your Own Why and Visit it Often

I can’t stress this enough, but knowing why you are on this homeschooling journey is paramount to keeping your peace.

Writing it down (there’s a little free printable here for you if you like) and displaying it somewhere helps to remind you why this is the right journey for YOUR family.

Ultimately, when you have a strong sense of your WHY, nothing thrown your way can deter you: no questions, no accusations, no lack of understanding.

I’m not saying there won’t be challenging times for you (we’ve had MANY and sometimes whole challenging SEASONS!) but there is a peace that surpasses understanding knowing that you are doing the right thing for YOUR family.

Your family’s homeschooling journey is specific to you – regardless of what others may say. May you have the grace, wisdom and discernment to know how to respond to this question!

How do you respond to the question: “No school today?” Feel free to share!

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!