Recently, I joined our local Toastmaster's group.  I appreciate being able to learn the art of public speaking in a friendly environment.  I learned that tonight's speaker was once a homeschooler.  As the table topics master, I asked him what advice he might give me as a homeschool mom of three boys.  He said to be able to admit it when you don't know something.  Good answer, I thought.

As the table topics master, It was my role to invite quick thinking by choosing members to speak for one to two minutes on subjects of my choosing.  I told them that I had been reading Wrinkle in Time to my children and tonight's questions centered on wrinkles in time.  One question was if one could go back to give oneself advice at age tweive, what advice would one give and why.  I told them that I had been teaching a coop class where I had been encouraging students to take seriously their teen years because they determined their next forty years.  The next question was if one could go back in time to visit a family member, which one would be chosen and why. 

Afterwards, there was the opportunity to talk to a member about homeschooling who thought kids didn't get socialization.  I told them they actually got more interaction because they could talk all day long instead of having to keep quiet until a 20 minute recess.  She said she meant interaction with peers.  I told her about the outside opportunities that were available for homeschoolers in our area.  I also told her that speaking to adults was equally important or more so in socializing, because they would grow up talking to adults, not children.  I may not have won a convert at homeschooling, but I wasn't there for that reason anyway.

If you get an opportunity to participate in a Toastmasters in your area, I highly recommend it.