This is a follow-up to a previous post on why I home school.

When my sixth child, Bethany, turned five, she really wanted to try Kindergarten like her friends—even though we were already well into our homeschool routine with her older siblings. It clearly meant a lot to her, so I said yes.

That year, our family was on the move a lot: traveling, doing seminars, exploring, learning by living. Lots of hands-on experiences and family adventures.

One day, I stopped by the school office to let them know Bethany would be absent again—we were heading out of town and I wanted to give them a heads-up so her absence could be excused.

The office assistant pulled up her record and said, “Uh, you know she’s already missed nine days?”

I nodded. “Yep, that’s why I’m here—to let you know in advance, and to see if there’s any work we should take with us.”

She replied, “Well, you do realize if she misses more than 18 days in a year, she won’t be promoted?”

“Right, which is why I’m checking in—to make sure we stay in good standing.”

Then she asked, “Have you had a visit from a police officer yet?”

“…Excuse me, what??”

“If your child misses eight or more days in one semester, a truancy officer will show up at your house.”

“But these are excused absences.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“So… who do I talk to so we can avoid the knock at the door?”

“You’ll need to contact the district truancy officer.”

(Reminder: this is Kindergarten we’re talking about.)

So I looked him up, explained our situation, and told him we were planning another family trip. I asked what we needed to do to keep things in good standing.

His response? “Have you had a police officer visit yet?”

Oh boy.

“No… and I was really hoping to avoid that.”

I explained how we homeschool the rest of our kids, how much we value real-world education, and that we were being proactive in keeping the school informed.

Finally, he chuckled and said, “You know what? If someone does show up, just explain what you told me. It’ll be fine. Honestly, I wish every child in the district had a family like yours.”

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