Anyone else dislike the word school for what you do at home with your children?

[Yolanda]

I do. It just doesn't go with what we do. :glare:

 

Does it matter to you what word you use when discussing your child's education?

[angela in ohio]

Nope. If you look up 'school' in a few different dictionaries, you find many other definitions than the one most think of (a school building.)

[prairie rose]

Yes and no.

 

"School" is the easiest way to explain it to those who do not want to understand homeschooling. :p I have not problem telling people we are "doing school" or telling the kids it's time to buckle down and "do some school".

 

On the other hand, our schooling is not institutionalized so I do find when I say we are doing school to those who are interested in learning more about homeschooling, I have to clarify that "doing school" does not mean that I set a timer to go off every hours so we can change classes, we don't have classroom desks set in neat rows and I do not own my own scantron machine so I can grade their tests. :lol:

 

The word "school" allows me to weed out those who are questioning me because they are interested in homeschooling from those who are just merely trying to hold a polite conversation. ;)

[ElizabethB]

Well, I think a better term would be tutoring. I tutored for years before homeschooling and think that tutoring is a better fit for what I do when I'm homeschooling than the word homeschooling...but I use the word because everyone else does, and it doesn't really bother me.

[freerange]

At my children's request we call it 'studying' - if I unthinkingly (subconciously influenced by reading the word here so much) refer to it as school work I get glares!:glare:

[Faithr]

I too use the world school but don't like it. I've tried to use other words, studies, lessons, learning or home learning, family learning (the last 3 are awkward but more of what I'd like to express).

 

I've been consciously trying to say things like: let's do our morning studies now!

[8filltheheart]

It doesnt' bother me, but I typically refer to what we do as educating our children at home vs. schooling the children at home. I particularly like this definition of educating: : to develop mentally, morally, or aesthetically especially by instruction.

[Haiku]

It doesn't bother me. One can be "schooled" outside of a school. I used to try to say that I "home educate," but that just seems fairly clunky.

 

Tara

[Tracy]

I can see the aversion to the use of the term "school." However, my dd has asked me on occasion why she is homeschooled rather than going to school. I think if I tried to remove the word school altogether, it would make her feel even more removed from the norm.

[Dinsfamily]

School definitely seems like the right word for us. I wonder if this will change for us as my dc get older. Right now, my ds wants to point out to his friends that he's a K'er too, but he gets to do his work at home with me instead of going to the school across the street. He'd probably be offended if I called it something other than school. Of course, at this age, being of "school age" is a big deal. I guess it's the differentiation from 5yos who are still in preK (of which there are a lot around here) and 5yos who are in K. Kind of an "I'm not a baby" thing. I'm guessing that won't be such an issue once he's in 3rd grade.

 

I works for me when I talk to non-homeschoolers too. I wouldn't really expect them to understand what my ds's education looks like so another word wouldn't really help. Homeschooling is fairly common around here, so it isn't shocking, but they don't really want to know about it. Those that are interested in hsing their children will engage me in conversations about it and we can have a real talk about it.

[stripe]

I think there are more accurate words, BUT it seems a bit pretentious and wordy to use any other term, at least in most American settings.

 

I don't refer to "school" per se when talking to my own kids, though. I talk about learning, or working on this or that (e.g. reading) , or (gasp!) playing games. ;)

[Ellie]

Yes and no.

 

When I'm talking to non-homeschoolers, it's just easier to say "homeschooling" than to be all philosophical about it, lol. But in my head, we're just learning things. Sometimes we learn things in methods which look like school; sometimes we don't. It's all good.

 

It bugs me more to talk about hsed children as being "in" such-and-such "grade" (other than being aware of what grade a child would be in if he were in school, so he can join the appropriate age-level class in Sunday school or scouts or whatever).

[Ellie]

Well, I think a better term would be tutoring. I tutored for years before homeschooling and think that tutoring is a better fit for what I do when I'm homeschooling than the word homeschooling...but I use the word because everyone else does, and it doesn't really bother me.

I understand what you mean, but generally (1) "tutoring" implies a non-family member doing the instruction, often being paid for it, and (2) in some states, such as Calif, there is a specific legal meaning for tutoring so it's a term to be avoided.

[In the Rain]

I've never thought about it, so I guess it doesn't bother me at all! :)

 

My 8yo refuses to see some subjects as "school work". Basically, if it is something she enjoys, she refers to it as an "educational opportunity". I have no idea where she picked up that phrase, but it cracks me up. :lol:

[Snickerdoodle]

We don't do school. We do lessons.

[MIch elle]

Don't dislike it but I've never used that term to define what we do at home. I always refer to it as our "lessons."

[J'etudie]

We don't do school. We do lessons.

 

Ditto. :)

 

I like the Little House on the Prairie feel of the word "lessons."

[Homeschooling6]

It doesn't bother me.