The lead paragraphs of Carolyn Norton’s page 1-A article in the Durham Herald-Sun neatly sum up the news:
CHAPEL HILL — Trash everything you think you know about homeschooling.
Forget the images of a small family sitting around a table, working out arithmetic problems. Toss out the thought of children whose only friends are their parents, brothers and sisters.
Today’s homeschoolers say they are nothing like that.
Hopefully, the message will start to get through, like two of us were able to point out:
“Most people don’t home-school in a vacuum,” says Julie Woessner, who has taught her two daughters from their house in Hillsborough for seven years. “People have the notion that we’re weirdos, sitting around a kitchen table. We’re not.” …
More than two-thirds of home educators are involved in a state or local organization, or both, [Hal] Young said. “Home-schooling is an individual activity, but it’s not solitary …”
As the form letter says, thank you for your concern.? We’re doing just fine.