You know I am out and about everywhere with my son, and the only place anyone EVER questions him as to why he's not in school is the library, though now they know him well and look forward to his visits. They always sit down with him and help him choose great books! Actually we were at the grocery store one day and there were about 5 police officers behind us and they only asked him what his name was, and what grade he was in. He said his name and told them he was 5, the officers just smiled at me.
Some people just don't have enough to do and have way too much time on their hands. I think that sometimes people are jealous and think that others should suffer the way they do. Maybe their kids go to school and have lots of homework, so they think they it needs to be that way.
I always figure that if I don't send my kids out they will say that I don't let them out for recess and if I DO send my kids out they will say that I don't school them enough. I do what I wish and thankfully have not had any problems.
I have a funny story to share. We live in the middle of nowhere, in Nov. hubby had a day off of work, at the time we were still in our old place, down the road about a mile from where we are now.. which is my MIL's old house. Anyway, Garrett decided he wanted to walk up to his Nana's house even though we were on our way up.. so we let him have a head start and we picked him up along the way. He said a car had stopped and asked if he needed ride.. we live in the middle of nowhere on a mountain so up the road is litterally up the road. Garrett said no and they guy drove on, my guess is he called the cops on a truant child because even though they rarely are seen up here we passed 2 of them a few minutes later driving down our hill..lol.
I think your neighbor needs some homemade cookies and some smiles. My grandfather always said to "kill them with kindness" and I found it really does work although I prefer my Lord's "do unto others" concept better. My daughter and I give out cookies or other baked goods and cards or artwork she has done now and then to our neighbors. Even if they might not like the idea of homeschooling (and frankly I don't know if they like it or not because most of them don't say anything either way), they end up loving my daughter--she is a people charmer of sorts--so they end up watching over her with what I would say is a more positive and protective attitude, rather than a negative and menacing one. We did this kind of thing with the youth of one of our churches. We had a secret grandparent where the teens were to give cards or presents each month until we had a banquet. They were to serve their adopted grandparents and then sit facing them at the table. Over the few months, the teens stopped trying to push past the older members in the hallways and ignoring them; they actually looked out for them, talked to them, open doors, etc. Immediately after the banquet, the seniors stopped complaining about everything the teens were doing or not doing and were genuinely interested in what they were doing, what interested them, what they liked, etc. And...if none of that works for you, there is "keep your friends close and your enemies closer." Just some thoughts....
This is exactly what I was going to type. Even if you aren't a member, if you have a friend that is, have them print you a copy I keep it in the front of our homeschool file so I know where it is at all time (just in case).
