"It's Not Homeschooling. It's Parenting."

I have come across variations of this comment on the internet. The idea is that you can't call it homeschooling your toddler or preschooler when you're just doing what any at-home parent with a rich list of activities does. Part of the argument is that you're kidding yourself, because actual homeschoolers of older kids have a much tougher job. Also, this line of thinking continues, stop minimizing the work of those actual homeschoolers by calling your ordinary parenting "homeschooling."

I think these people are probably right, but I'm not going to stop calling my behavior homeschooling. Here's why:

It really is an argument over semantics. How often are these kinds of arguments worth spending much time on? Just know that when I say I homeschool, I do not sit my toddler down in front of worksheets, and I don't think I have mastered the challenges of home educating a rebellious 9 year old.

I live in an area where children begin preschool programs at age 2. Maybe 3 if you're a holdout. Stay at home moms will ask what you're planning "to do with" your toddler, and they mean which preschool are you selecting. I have a good friend encountering a lot of this preschool pressure. She has no intentions to homeschool, but she's wondered aloud if she needs to meet up with the area homeschoolers simply to find other parents who aren't choosing early school. In short: where we live, if you don't preschool, it's homeschool.

We do plan to "officially" homeschool when Ladybug reaches school age. Why does her learning count as homeschooling when she has reached the state-mandated age, but not now? She's working hard!

I homeschooled. I attended public school through mid-eighth grade, then withdrew and homeschooled through completion of high school. It's a lifestyle I love, and learning with my daughter feels like a joyful return to that lifestyle.