Are There Still Homeschool Pioneers Left?

No doubt about it.
The number of families homeschooling is on the rise.

What use to be an educational choice for extreme situations (think remote locations) or extreme beliefs, has now become more commonplace. It is to the point where now when a mom or dad says they homeschool, people no longer ask 'what is that?' For the most part, the general public knows what homeschooling is. Whether they agree with it or not is an entirely different can of worms.

Though homeschooling is still not a choice the majority of parents make, homeschooling families are increasing every year.

As more and more families choose to homeschool, it seems that the 'homeschool movement' is changing.

Homeschoolers use to be thought of as pioneers who

• said no to the established, conventional education methods
• had an independent spirit
• were entrepreneurs
• creatively tackled problems such as finding or making their own curriculum
• had a family cohesiveness, in this together attitude

I don't know about you, but I get the image of a pioneering family traveling along the plains sometime in the 1800's setting up a homestead. Initially, they were on their own. However, as the years passed, the town grew up around these first settlers, and these pioneers became a part of a community which was diverse.

Perhaps homeschooling has undergone the same type of transformation as more and more families choose to homeschool. Today, there are a plethora of options for homeschooling families. Tackling home education on your own is no longer the only way to homeschool.

And, as this community of homeschoolers has grown, and continues to grow, I can't help but wonder, have we lost something of that pioneering spirit? And, if so, is this necessarily bad? What do you think?



Pictures featured in this post from a recent nature walk - searching for Bald Eagles - found!