She Thought It Was Only Temporary: Tara Wagner's Interview

Tara thought homeschooling was only going to be a temporary option at first, but her family is just having too much fun to quit now. She blogs at The Organic Sister and lives with her husband and son in Las Vegas, Nevada. By the looks of this photo I bet they are a lot of fun to hang with, don't you?



1. How long have you been homeschooling (or if finished, how long did you homeschool)?

We've been unschooling for two and a half years. Zeb went to a private school for 2.5 years (from age 5 to 7.5) before we finally admitted it wasn't working. Homeschooling was meant to be a temporary means, until I discovered unschooling. The happy faces and joyful stories of unschooling families and their connections was my biggest inspiration to take the leap.

2. One of the main benefits of homeschooling is the freedom and flexibility it allows. Can you give us a few examples of how this freedom and flexibility benefited you (your family)?

Unschooling has changed the way we view our lives. We've prioritized. We've all found things that we're passionate about and don't allow "shoulds" and "should nots" to rule our choices. It's given us a freedom to be more authentic, more room for spontaneity and space to just breathe it all in.

3. Another benefit of homeschooling is the fun factor. Can you give us a few examples of some especially fun times you had as a result of homeschooling?

Wow. How do I narrow it down?! There's the group hikes or camping trips, swimming parties and games, plays and movies and sleepovers. Stand-up comedy and other silly videos on YouTube, fairs and shows, gardening (okay, that one is only fun for me and the Hubs!), bike rides and scavenger hunts, too. We're not trapped into time frames or arbitrary or boring tasks. Our days aren't rulled by someone else's clock and we try not to do anything that isn't enjoyable (except cleaning the bathrooms - I'll never enjoy that).

4. We all have funny experiences while homeschooling. Can you share one of yours with us?

I think the funniest moment was when we had only been unschooling for a few months. Zeb was still deschooling and was very verbal about his distaste for anything he thought resembled school. My mom asked Zeb how he liked homeschooling and with great enthusiasm he replied "It's great! I get to learn whatever I want and right now I'm learning nothing!!"