What Homeschool Looks Like
It looks like family! It looks like Family Home Morning -- a devotional with hymns, scripture study, and prayer -- and everyone is awake. It looks like mom reading aloud from great books. It looks like children working alongside their parents, learning to cook, clean, mow, and weed in support of the family. It looks like the family taking fresh bread and sweet conversation to a neighbor, working together to remodel a room, or heading off for a picnic. These are the kinds of things every good family does, but some families are able to do more because Mom and the children spend their days together and Dad joins in whenever he can.

Some families choose to be more independent of government help in educating their children, taking on the job themselves and employing teachers or tutors for specific purposes as needed. We call these people "homeschoolers" although in reality all families are homeschooling.

In fulltime homeschool homes you will see a great variety of learning activities, much of it hands-on, taking place after the morning devotional. Mom helps as needed, but much is done independently so the children learn to manage their agency. (Employers and colleges love these self-directed learners.) And on those picnics, the children will be taking their magnifying glasses and their nature journals along. Learning becomes a way of life.

Homeschooling is children who are seldom bored because their curiosity and creativity are nurtured. The signs of their learning can be seen all over the house!

Homeschooling is many field trips, and camping trips, and afternoons in the park with other homeschoolers. It's the whole neighborhood wanting to play at their house after school because there are fun things to do. It's older children going off to explore the world -- volunteering in the community, apprenticing in the florist shops, holding part-time jobs, or taking a few classes with a homeschool co-op or at public high school or community college.

Homeschool families have lively discussions; they discuss books together, and world events, and they share gospel insights. Children in homeschool families are best friends, bonded forever. Being secure in the family, they are comfortable interacting with others, younger or older.

Once in a while life is sad, when no one wants to play with a homeschooler. Once in while it's lonely, when there are no other homeschoolers nearby. Once in a while moms feel overwhelmed . . . and then they simplify. They know the Savior's yoke is easy (a good fit) and His load is light (Matt. 11:30). They polish their shield of faith, remembering the importance of parenthood, and the fun begins again.

Homeschool is happiness. And freedom. It's birds soaring, water flowing, flowers blooming, and children running. It's doing hard things, stretching yourself, climbing higher than you ever thought you could. And when the years go by and you survey your posterity, even into the next generation, and even in spite of your failures, there is great satisfaction and much joy.

The ultimate purpose of all we teach is to unite parents and children in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they are happy at home, sealed in an eternal marriage, linked to their generations, and assured of exaltation in the presence of our Heavenly Father.
- President Boyd K. Packer, General Conference Apr 1995

Mothers who know are always teachers. Since they are not babysitters, they are never off duty. A well-taught friend told me that he did not learn anything at church that he had not already learned at home. His parents used family scripture study, prayer, family home evening, mealtimes, and other gatherings to teach. Think of the power of our future missionary force if mothers considered their homes as a pre-missionary training center. Then the doctrines of the gospel taught in the MTC would be a review and not a revelation. That is influence; that is power.
- President Julie Beck, "Mothers Who Know," General Conference Oct 2007