I am an Independent Educator.  What does that mean?  Well, the more common term is "Homeschooler."  However, I don't believe that the term homeschooler truly explains what an independent educator actually does.  Yes, the general public is familiar with the term, and everyone seems to think they know exactly what a homeschooler is -- but, no!

I have been an independent educator for almost ten years now, and in my experience, it is clear that most people really do not truly understand what our professional entails.  Hence, I decided that a new term was needed in order to explain what it is that our family does in a more accurate sense.  So, I've adopted the term "Independent Education," and we call ourselves "Independent Educators."

Yet, in many circumstances, I still find myself having to use the term "homeschool," despite the fact that I don't like it.  I think it's unjustly bewildering to the common person who has not come across the opportunity to look inside the world of homeschoolers.  Therefore, it does parents like us a considerable injustice by misrepresenting our intentions.  This bewilderment has resulted in the dumbfounded stares from our own relatives when we first announce that we are going to educate our children at home, and the disapproving "tisk" sounds from neighbors who seem to immediately feel sorry for our "poor" children.  It also stirs this apparently unending need that strangers have to conduct "random" tests on our kids to ensure that they are actually learning something from their home education (as if it's their job to assess this).  

This general lack of understanding additionally creates the continual line of questioning about socialization.  "How will your kids learn to get along with other people if they are just homeschooled?"  And let's not forget the confused secretary at dance class and gymnastics lessons when we write "homeschool" on the line where it says "school" on the registration applications.  All this confusion and disapproval is the result of a huge misunderstanding of exactly what it is we "homeschoolers" do.  So perhaps it's now time for a new name, since I have learned that it is the name itself that causes the confusion. 

Maybe it's the word "home" that makes people uncomfortable, as they probably imagine pale-looking, lonely kids sitting in a pretend classroom somewhere inside their house.  But the truth is that while some of our children's learning does occur inside the house, a huge amount of it actually takes place everywhere, including outside the home and among other humans!  The concept is that the term "home" means "with the family," and not necessarily inside of a house!  However, most people just don't seem to possess this understanding. 

The problem may also be stemmed from the term "school."  This is because what we do is not actually considered "schooling".  As a matter of fact, parents such as myself have made a conscious effort to NOT incorporate "school" as a learning atmosphere for our children.  While all homeschooling parents made this decision for a vast variety of different reasons, the truth is that we made a decision to purposely avoid the traditional school system.  We decided to offer a learning experience for our kids that was outside of -- meaning different than, and independent of -- a school.    

My family practices learning.  It is discovering and experiencing the world, understanding how it works, and applying what we've learned in order to continually grow and evolve.  This process is not one that solely takes place inside the house, and it is really not tied to the concept of "school" at all! 

So you can now clearly understand that what the "homeschooler" does is really not about "schooling," nor does it exclusively occur inside the "home."  Although it is a common term, in my opinion, it is a weak term.   
On the bright side, other parents like me are naturally have outside-the-lines kinds of personalities, so we can use whatever term we choose, and no corporation or board can take that privilege away from us. 

I realize that not all parents will make the same decision that I made -- to avoid sending their children to "school".  But remember that parents who send their kids to some type of "school" can still be independent educators.  Just as there is a huge amount of information to be learned outside the home, there is A WHOLE LOT lot to be learned outside of a school.