Just Enough, Nothing More

Communicating for a Better Tomorrow

Definition of Homeschooling

14 February 2011 7 Comments

It’s hard to nail down a solid definition of homeschooling. In a state like California where there are five different ways to legally educate children outside of public or private school campuses, and where there are as many philosophies and practices as there are homeschoolers, it seems an impossible task to come up with one simple answer to the question: what is homeschooling?

Well, today, I made the bold gesture to do just that.

My husband asked me to join a new website called Quora. This is a question and answer site like Yahoo! Answers, but it’s touting itself as a better version, with better questions and better answers. After some browsing, it looks like it might be a cross between Wikipedia with its community-based editing and Yahoo! Answers with its Q&A format.

Being that I work in the homeschooling community and I am a homeschooler, of course the first topic I looked at was homeschooling.

There were some questions. But, the area where the description was supposed to go was blank.

I looked around the room, and nobody else raised their hand to fill in that definition. Being the completionist, I felt compelled to make sure that blank didn’t stay empty very long. So, I created a definition. After several attempts, here is what I came up with:

Homeschooling: Homeschooling is the practice of primary or secondary education managed by a parent, child, or combination of the two, outside of brick and mortar full-time schools.

I think that covers all the options, all the philosophies, and all of the practices, while defining that circle on the Venn diagram that is homeschooling.

What do you think of the definition?

And, if you using quora, or have thought about it, what do you think of Quora?

7 Comments »

Stacy (Mama-Om) said:

I like it. Simple yet comprehensive.

I just found your site a few days ago via a link from a friend on Facebook. I’ve been enjoying my time here, and wanted to comment when I saw this come through my reader.

Thanks!

Best,
Stacy

# 14 February 2011 at 3:07 pm

Tammy (author) said:

Thanks, Stacy, for the feedback and for stopping by.

# 14 February 2011 at 3:45 pm

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# 14 February 2011 at 6:27 pm

Kerry said:

Thanks for the heads up on Quora. I joined just now. I looked for a place to put the referrers name so you could get your commission, but alas…. I think your definition rocks. Couldn’t have come up with a better one.

# 15 February 2011 at 4:36 am

Tammy (author) said:

Thanks, Kerry! I don’t think Quora has a referral program, but we can follow each other.

# 15 February 2011 at 8:50 am

Vicky said:

I love your definition. It is really useful because I don’t homeschool but I have trying to get my head around it because there are so many different methods and philosophies. You have put it in a nutshell

# 28 February 2011 at 3:28 am

Mark Pascual said:

Random trivia: Quora moved into the office we vacated in Palo Alto; we moved into an office directly above theirs. They’re not that big! Just a few folks, last time I stopped by their office.

# 28 February 2011 at 10:39 pm

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Definition of Homeschooling

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