I know it's not yet Thursday in the states, but it is here. :)
This is my first post for Secular Thursday and I’m very excited about it. So what should I talk about? Well I figured I would discuss something I want. All homeschoolers have something they long for, but what does this secular homeschooler want? I really want to live close to a friend of mine who is also an Atheist homeschooler. She was one of the first non-theist with children that I actually got to know and helped show me that I really could raise children without religion. I didn’t have to hold on to something I no longer deemed useful. She has been encouraging, supportive, and loving, in fact downright motherly at times when I needed a non-theist mother the most.
Unfortunately, she lives in the states, and her state doesn’t have a base we would ever be stationed at. So the likelihood that we would ever be close enough to enjoy sharing this homeschooling journey together in person is highly unlikely.
I long to share this journey with her in person *not just online*. To be able to hit a natural science museum with another godless homeschooler who shares my passion for science and the passion for instilling critical thinking in our children. To meet for morning coffee, while enjoying cookies, and sharing/relating with one another the difficulties of being the minority in the minority. To share our struggles, our successes, to exchange ideas, and support.
Yes, I can find those qualities in most secular homeschoolers *in fact I have in a few theist homeschoolers that I‘ve had the pleasure of meeting in person and/or online*, but they can’t relate in the same way as someone who shares my personal beliefs would be able to.
It’s hard enough to find secular homeschoolers it’s another to find a secular family *completely free of/from religion* that homeschools as well and lives near us *talk about a needle in a haystack! It’s more like finding a piece of hay in a needle stack!*.
I’ve embraced the path we have chosen not just in schooling but as far as my husband’s career and the places we will go because of it. I look forward to the adventures we will be able to take because we aren’t limited by a school schedule, but I will always long for that friend who relates to me on levels that are too complex to put into words. *Not to discredit the wonderful friends I have made over the course of my life, you all are indispensable to me, but there are some things only a non-theist who homeschools as well will understand.*.
Maybe one day we will be in the same state long enough to stroll through a science museum, stop for lunch with our little heathens, and then get lost in the shelves of a local bookstore. Until then we will enjoy the beauty of email and FB, when we aren‘t scraping the remains of this mornings experiments off the ceiling.
Unfortunately, she lives in the states, and her state doesn’t have a base we would ever be stationed at. So the likelihood that we would ever be close enough to enjoy sharing this homeschooling journey together in person is highly unlikely.
I long to share this journey with her in person *not just online*. To be able to hit a natural science museum with another godless homeschooler who shares my passion for science and the passion for instilling critical thinking in our children. To meet for morning coffee, while enjoying cookies, and sharing/relating with one another the difficulties of being the minority in the minority. To share our struggles, our successes, to exchange ideas, and support.
Yes, I can find those qualities in most secular homeschoolers *in fact I have in a few theist homeschoolers that I‘ve had the pleasure of meeting in person and/or online*, but they can’t relate in the same way as someone who shares my personal beliefs would be able to.
It’s hard enough to find secular homeschoolers it’s another to find a secular family *completely free of/from religion* that homeschools as well and lives near us *talk about a needle in a haystack! It’s more like finding a piece of hay in a needle stack!*.
I’ve embraced the path we have chosen not just in schooling but as far as my husband’s career and the places we will go because of it. I look forward to the adventures we will be able to take because we aren’t limited by a school schedule, but I will always long for that friend who relates to me on levels that are too complex to put into words. *Not to discredit the wonderful friends I have made over the course of my life, you all are indispensable to me, but there are some things only a non-theist who homeschools as well will understand.*.
Maybe one day we will be in the same state long enough to stroll through a science museum, stop for lunch with our little heathens, and then get lost in the shelves of a local bookstore. Until then we will enjoy the beauty of email and FB, when we aren‘t scraping the remains of this mornings experiments off the ceiling.
Copyright(c) 2010 Rayven Holmes
August 25, 2010 at 5:03 PM
Hi I am your newest follower. I found you on Secular homeschooler and am excited to met other homeschooler like myself:). Check out my blog if ;you get a chance:)
http://lifesadventures-amb.blogspot.com/