What Exactly IS a Homeschool Expert?

Last summer I was asked to write an article on homeschooling for a parenting website. One of their stipulations was that since I am not a “homeschool expert,” I had to include citations from resources written by people who are.

The first thing I thought was, “Umm…is there such a thing as a homeschool expert?”

It’s not exactly something you can get a degree in, you know? 

When it came time to turn in my draft, I included some information from a few homeschooling websites I’ve come across that are both professional and written by people who have homeschooled their own children.

I was taken aback when I received a message stating that these people were not experts, as the information included on their websites was only their opinion.

How can people who have successfully homeschooled and graduated their children for decades not be considered experts??

Included in their message were some links to people they considered to be “experts” in the field. Not one of them ever had any experience with homeschooling other than doing studies on it!

Not one!

What made things even worse was the fact that all of the articles were written by people who were obviously biased against homeschooling and honestly had no clue at all what it’s all about.

At this point it dawned on me that this is reminiscent of what has happened to our society today. Old-fashioned experience has been replaced by a piece of paper that, honestly, is bought more than earned.

And isn’t this even true of our education system? People who have never set foot in a classroom are the ones in charge, while those who are actually in the trenches, so to speak, are at their mercy everyday.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Almost a year later, I’m still not entirely sure there is such a thing as a homeschool expert.

But when it comes down to it, who would you turn to for homeschooling questions and advice?

Someone who’s actually lived the homeschool life, made mistakes, corrected them, and lived to tell the tale??

Or someone who did a few surveys, interviewed some homeschooling families, and has a fancy degree with their name on it?

I think the answer to that question is a no-brainer. How about you?