How do you teach them EVERYTHING?

As we're out and about doing or home ed thing, I often get comments from people about why I have school aged children out of school.

It usually starts with "day off today then?" which is answered with "we do home education" very proudly. There are then several common responses.

The first is "Oh, right" which obviously means that they think I'm completely mad/wrong/weird/abusive etc etc...

The second is "How does that work then? Do you have a curriculum to follow? Do 'they' check up on you? Are you checked by OFSTED? What do you do all day?"

No, we don't have a curriculum to follow. We can do what we like, when we like. We're definitely not checked by OFSTED and 'they' provide no useful form of support at all. In fact, the law states that I as a parent, have the responsibility to educate my children. Unlike the majority of the population, I have decided to take full responsibility, rather than choosing to delegate it to schools. I have to educate my children full time, however there is no legal definition of what full time is. However, today, George 2 spent two hours doing a maths investigation using rice. It turned into a science experiment and cookery lesson, then back to maths as he drew up a chart to show his findings. George 1 read three books to me (with a lot of help), ordered a story, played a maths board game and practised counting in 2s. This was all before 11am. I'm pretty sure that's as much, if not more than they would achieve in school in a day. This afternoon we went into town and bought some fabulous material to make Harry Potter invisibility cloaks.

The best responses, I think, are along the lines of "I wish I was clever like you" or better still "how do you teach them everything?" What exactly do people think children learn in school? Everything, clearly. This is the best one for me. I always want to ask "what did you learn in school?" but it sounds a bit rude and I know the basis of the question is genuine interest. I'm never quite sure what to say though. I have no intention of teaching my children EVERYTHING, I'd have a job given that I don't know everything. I'm pretty sure there isn't a teacher alive who knows EVERYTHING.

My primary goal is to raise happy, well rounded, well educated, confident children who are capable of doing anything that their heart desires. If they want to go to university and be a doctor, I'll help them get there. If they want to run a business I'll teach them how. If they want to travel round the world, I want them to have the confidence, skills and common sense to do it. That's my aim. If at any point I really feel that school can achieve that better than me, then they'll go back. I just hope that never becomes the case.