A Question of Semantics

I have been struggling lately with the word, "Homeschooling."  To me, it implies that our family is at home hitting the books instead of doing the same thing at school.  This is the furthest thing from the truth!  Actually, we do "hit the books," but they are usually library books of my young people's choosing.  :)

It happens often when we are out and about, as we so often are.  Someone will ask how old Maddie and Amelia are and then say, "Is there no school today?"  They reply, "We homeschool."  That is met with different replies depending on the person, but generally it is something like, "Oh, your mom is your teacher."  (No, the world is their teacher.  They LIVE!)  Or, "You must have been a teacher in order to know how to teach your children."  (Yes, I was a teacher, but it has nothing to do with what goes on in our daily lives).  Or, "I could never do that!  You must be so patient." (No, I'm not always patient, but I do LOVE being with my children and I am GRATEFUL that we can spend our days together!).  

I would love to think of another term besides "homeschooling" or even "unschooling."  Unschooling is fine to say in the homeschooling crowd; they know sort of what you mean.  The outside world has no idea who John Holt is or what I mean by "life learning."  

So, if anybody has any advice, I'd love to hear it!  For now, we will continue to muddle through the questions....and enjoy our life of learning together!