Interviews with Homeschoolers: Two Brothers

Want to know how someone feels about their life as a homeschooled kid? In my opinion, it’s best to go straight to the source. I present to you two unedited interviews with homeschoolers. Namely, my two sons.

(My sons are now homeschooled teens, but these interviews are from when they were 9 and 10 years old. You can see their more recent answers in What Kids Think About Homeschooling. )

Interviews with homeschoolers: the youngest (at 9 years old)

Question: How long have you been homeschooled?
9yo: Eight years.
Me: Eight years? You’re only nine years old.
9yo: Yeah. I know.

Question: What is your favorite thing about homeschooling?
9yo: No pointless stuff. You get to hang out with your mom. It’s mostly life school.

Question: What is your least favorite thing about homeschooling?
9yo: If we ever did pointless stuff, I would not like that. But we barely ever do that. Because our teacher doesn’t even like that.
Me: You mean me?
9yo: Yeah.

Question: If someone asked you what homeschooling is or what you do all day, what would you tell them?
9yo: I would say it’s a shorter type school with no pointless stuff. And we have a co-op meeting with friends every week.

Interviews with homeschoolers: it’s good to know their thoughts

Question: Describe your perfect homeschooling day.
9yo: I would play Minecraft with mom and then I would play paper video games with mom and then we would read Life of Fred.

Question: Do you think you would ever be interested in going to public school? Why or why not?
9yo: No. They don’t let you do your math on the toilet.

Question: What do you wish you could do more of?
9yo: LIFE OF FRED.

(This kid seriously loves Life of Fred. If you’re not currently using Life of Fred, take a look at why he thinks it’s so awesome.)

Question: How do you learn best: by seeing, hearing, or doing?
9yo: Doing.

Question: What do you think you might want to have as a job when you are an adult?
9yo: A cook or maybe a game-maker.

Question: If you have children, will you homeschool them?
9yo: Yes. Maybe. I don’t know.

Interviews with homeschoolers: the oldest ( at 10 years old)

One should not assume that two children born 12 months and three weeks apart and both raised by the same parents are the same kind of animal. They might be totally different species in separate zoos on different continents.

But that’s what makes life exciting!

Question: What is your favorite thing about homeschooling?
10yo: The freedom.

Question: If someone asked you what homeschooling is or what you do all day, what would you tell them?
10yo: I’d tell them that we don’t have “sit down” school all day, but that we do learn new things anyway. We have no busywork and we have more flexibility than “regular” schoolers.

Question: If someone told you homeschoolers don’t have to do as much as public schoolers and therefore aren’t as smart, what would you say?
10yo: I would ask them a simple physics or programming question and then walk away.

Question: Describe your perfect homeschooling day.
10yo: Playing a paper video game with everyone, playing Minecraft, and then finishing a new Scratch project.

Interviews with homeschoolers: ask the questions and find out what they think

Question: Do you think you would ever be interested in going to public school? Why or why not?
10yo: I would not be interested. Period. No.

Question: How do you learn best: by seeing, hearing, or doing?
10yo: Doing.

Question: What do you think you might want to do as a job when you are an adult?
10yo: Video game maker or mechanic.

Question: If you have children, will you homeschool them?
10yo: I don’t plan on getting married. But for the sake of your question, yes.

Did their opinions about homeschooling change when they got older? Looking for more interviews with homeschoolers? Check out What Kids Think About Homeschooling for their answers at 12 and 13 years old.

Tired of the sugarcoated version of homeschooling? Read my book The Homeschool Highway: How to Navigate Your Way Without Getting Carsick.