{"id":38507,"date":"2015-05-11T06:30:14","date_gmt":"2015-05-11T10:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/simplehomeschl.wpengine.com\/?p=38507"},"modified":"2026-01-28T16:19:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T21:19:40","slug":"not-parents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/","title":{"rendered":"The important influence of the not-parents."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"annepicmo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Written by Anne Bogel of Modern Mrs. Darcy<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

L<\/span>ast week, our 10-year-old surprised us at dinner when she said, \u201cI memorized something. Want to hear it?”<\/p>\n

And then she recited The Charge of the Light Brigade<\/a>, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in its entirety, without missing a word.<\/p>\n

I was floored.<\/p>\n

Now I know many of you study poetry in depth with your young students, and rely heavily on memorization for your homeschool curricula. At 6 stanzas, 260 words, it’s\u00a0not completely<\/em> daunting. But it’s not something we do\u00a0in our homeschool. At least not right now.<\/p>\n

So of course I wanted to know: how, and why, Sarah had memorized that poem.\"kids<\/p>\n

The answer came out: our babysitter challenged her to.<\/p>\n

My kids need diverse role models<\/h4>\n

My husband and I are deliberate about creating a content-rich environment at home<\/a>. Our shelves are stocked with good books and we have piles of great audio by the CD\u00a0player. We hit the library regularly. Reading is a family value: it\u2019s part of our identity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But as important as the family influence is for our kids, they need more role models.<\/p>\n

Sure, we have extended family and friends, grandparents and neighbors, teachers\u00a0and coaches\u2014but the person my kids see the most each week is our regular babysitter, whom they adore.<\/p>\n

(You know you\u2019ve found somebody special when at your first meeting, she introduces herself by saying: There\u2019s something you should know about me: I love reading and always bring a pile of books along when I babysit. Are you okay with that?<\/em>)<\/p>\n

I appreciate that my kids\u00a0spend plenty of time playing and studying and learning\u2014with someone who’s not their parent.<\/em><\/p>\n

My kids need content that I<\/em> don’t choose<\/h4>\n

Our babysitter\u00a0always brings books along with her when she comes, and reads them to the kids. She brings over her library books and cookbooks for the kids to peruse. And the kids are always listening when she and I compare notes about what we\u2014the adults\u2014are reading this week, and loan our favorites back and forth.<\/p>\n

If I<\/em> wanted to pick a poem\u00a0for Sarah to memorize, I wouldn’t have chosen a piece about an ill-fated, bloody military battle. But our babysitter loved that poem, and was excited about it, and got Sarah excited about it, too.<\/p>\n

Our babysitter\u00a0has good taste, but it\u2019s not my taste, and that\u2019s a good thing for my kids.<\/strong> Their\u00a0experience shouldn’t be\u00a0limited to just those things that their parents are interested in.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

My kids need different expectations<\/h4>\n

I wouldn’t have challenged Sarah to memorize that poem:\u00a0I would have been afraid it was too\u00a0hard, too long, too overwhelming.<\/p>\n

But that didn\u2019t stop our babysitter, and Sarah was determined to wow her by learning it cold. She practiced it by herself, over and over, and enlisted her older brother to help her learn it. (I knew they were quizzing each other but I thought it was for their cottage school homework!)<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t have the opportunity to nag: I didn\u2019t even know about it. But I wouldn’t have needed to, anyway: Sarah\u00a0was highly motivated to meet someone else\u2019s<\/em> expectations, and someone else\u2019s<\/em> standards: highly valuable things for a kid homeschooler.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because we homeschool, my kids spend a lot of time at home. Or at least, with their parents. But I think the homeschooling experience is richer when it’s a team sport: I\u2019m grateful that my kids have other people in their lives as well.<\/p>\n

As important as our influence is as parents, my kids need more\u00a0role models, more diverse\u00a0content, and different expectations than we can provide on our\u00a0own.<\/p>\n

What has\u00a0your experience been like in this area?<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Anne Bogel of Modern Mrs. Darcy. Last week, our 10-year-old surprised us at dinner when she said, \u201cI memorized something. Want to hear it?” And then she recited The Charge of the Light Brigade, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in its entirety, without missing a word. I was floored. Now I know many of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":38522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[343,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homeschool-sos-inspiration","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nThe important influence of the not-parents. - Simple Homeschool<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do your kids have other mentors besides you & your spouse? Anne's daughter shocked her by taking up a learning challenge set by an outside influence.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The important influence of the not-parents. - Simple Homeschool\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do your kids have other mentors besides you & your spouse? Anne's daughter shocked her by taking up a learning challenge set by an outside influence.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Simple Homeschool\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/simplehomeschool\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-11T10:30:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-28T21:19:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/annepicmo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"474\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"420\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Bogel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Bogel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/not-parents\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/not-parents\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anne Bogel\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ee93a7379a1671c9d7ad116123445524\"},\"headline\":\"The important influence of the not-parents.\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-11T10:30:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-28T21:19:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/not-parents\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":643,\"commentCount\":18,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/not-parents\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/annepicmo.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Homeschool SOS & Inspiration\",\"Inspiration\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/not-parents\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/not-parents\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/not-parents\\\/\",\"name\":\"The important influence of the not-parents. - Simple Homeschool\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/not-parents\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/not-parents\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/annepicmo.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-11T10:30:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-28T21:19:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ee93a7379a1671c9d7ad116123445524\"},\"description\":\"Do your kids have other mentors besides you & your spouse? Anne's daughter shocked her by taking up a learning challenge set by an outside influence.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/not-parents\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/not-parents\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/not-parents\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/annepicmo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/annepicmo.jpg\",\"width\":474,\"height\":420,\"caption\":\"The important influence of the not-parents.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/not-parents\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The important influence of the not-parents.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/\",\"name\":\"Simple Homeschool\",\"description\":\"Never let your schooling interrupt your education.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ee93a7379a1671c9d7ad116123445524\",\"name\":\"Anne Bogel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ec394a79573c4432b63dd44dfb71cc80ff8d947d42b0149b4708913df7b24fb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ec394a79573c4432b63dd44dfb71cc80ff8d947d42b0149b4708913df7b24fb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ec394a79573c4432b63dd44dfb71cc80ff8d947d42b0149b4708913df7b24fb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Anne Bogel\"},\"description\":\"Anne Bogel is an author, mother of four, a book-loving blogger, and host of the popular What Should I Read Next? podcast. She loves Jane Austen, strong coffee, the social graces and social media. Find her online at Modern Mrs Darcy\u00ae.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/author\\\/anne-b\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/simplehomeschool.net\\\/author\\\/anne-b\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The important influence of the not-parents. - Simple Homeschool","description":"Do your kids have other mentors besides you & your spouse? Anne's daughter shocked her by taking up a learning challenge set by an outside influence.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The important influence of the not-parents. - Simple Homeschool","og_description":"Do your kids have other mentors besides you & your spouse? Anne's daughter shocked her by taking up a learning challenge set by an outside influence.","og_url":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/","og_site_name":"Simple Homeschool","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/simplehomeschool","article_published_time":"2015-05-11T10:30:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-28T21:19:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":474,"height":420,"url":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/annepicmo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anne Bogel","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anne Bogel","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/"},"author":{"name":"Anne Bogel","@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/#\/schema\/person\/ee93a7379a1671c9d7ad116123445524"},"headline":"The important influence of the not-parents.","datePublished":"2015-05-11T10:30:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-28T21:19:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/"},"wordCount":643,"commentCount":18,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/annepicmo.jpg","articleSection":["Homeschool SOS & Inspiration","Inspiration"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/","url":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/","name":"The important influence of the not-parents. - Simple Homeschool","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/annepicmo.jpg","datePublished":"2015-05-11T10:30:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-28T21:19:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/#\/schema\/person\/ee93a7379a1671c9d7ad116123445524"},"description":"Do your kids have other mentors besides you & your spouse? Anne's daughter shocked her by taking up a learning challenge set by an outside influence.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/annepicmo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/annepicmo.jpg","width":474,"height":420,"caption":"The important influence of the not-parents."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/not-parents\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The important influence of the not-parents."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/","name":"Simple Homeschool","description":"Never let your schooling interrupt your education.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/#\/schema\/person\/ee93a7379a1671c9d7ad116123445524","name":"Anne Bogel","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec394a79573c4432b63dd44dfb71cc80ff8d947d42b0149b4708913df7b24fb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec394a79573c4432b63dd44dfb71cc80ff8d947d42b0149b4708913df7b24fb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec394a79573c4432b63dd44dfb71cc80ff8d947d42b0149b4708913df7b24fb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Anne Bogel"},"description":"Anne Bogel is an author, mother of four, a book-loving blogger, and host of the popular What Should I Read Next? podcast. She loves Jane Austen, strong coffee, the social graces and social media. Find her online at Modern Mrs Darcy\u00ae.","sameAs":["https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/author\/anne-b\/"],"url":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/author\/anne-b\/"}]}},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":343,"label":"Homeschool SOS & Inspiration"},{"value":28,"label":"Inspiration"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/annepicmo.jpg",474,420,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Anne Bogel","author_link":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/author\/anne-b\/"},"comment_info":18,"category_info":[{"term_id":343,"name":"Homeschool SOS & Inspiration","slug":"homeschool-sos-inspiration","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":343,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":262,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":343,"category_count":262,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Homeschool SOS & Inspiration","category_nicename":"homeschool-sos-inspiration","category_parent":0},{"term_id":28,"name":"Inspiration","slug":"inspiration","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":33,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":343,"count":212,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":28,"category_count":212,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Inspiration","category_nicename":"inspiration","category_parent":343}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}