Our interview today is with Phil Corless.  I think you will enjoy reading his answers.  It is not everyday we meet a homeschooling DAD!

1.) Tell us a little about yourself.  I see from your blog that you are a homeschooling dad!   How long have you been homeschooling?  What led your family to this path?

I’ve been a stay-at-home dad for ten years now, since the birth of my son.  I also have a 6-year-old daughter.  From the very beginning, I knew that I wanted something better for my kids, in terms of education.

My son attended public school from kindergarten through second grade.  He had one okay teacher, one great teacher, and one bad teacher.  It was during his second grade year that I started to see how bored he was.  Also, when I volunteered in the classroom I saw with my own eyes how oblivious the teacher was to the needs of most of her students.  I thought, “I can do better than this at home.”

We had some friends who were homeschooling, so we decided to try it out.  The first year was tough, and a real adjustment, but overall it was a huge success.  My son fell in love with learning.

My daughter went to public school for kindergarten and first grade, but we will bring her home starting next school year.  She wanted to go to school like her brother did, but now she’s getting excited about being at home and all the freedom and flexibility that goes along with that.

2.) I personally see a lot more homeschooling moms blogging than dads so I am excited to learn more from you. As a homeschooling dad, what role do you take?  Is it very active or more supportive of your wife?

I am the primary teacher, since I’m the one at home.  On my wife’s days off, she’ll do the occasional music or art lesson but, for the sake of continuity, she lets me teach the lessons.  Also, on her days off I just want her to relax and focus on her interests and hobbies.  Besides teaching my son, I basically do everything else around the house:  cleaning, decluttering, grocery shopping, laundry, cat litter box, yard work, bills, cooking.  Yes, I’m overwhelmed.  Who isn’t?

3.) What initially drew you to blogging?  Can you tell us how you chose the title “A Family Runs Through”?

I don’t remember exactly what caused me to start my own blog.  Perhaps my need for a creative outlet.  It was four years ago when I first started my blog, which I intended to be a source of news and information about family events in the Pacific Northwest.  After a few months, I made it more personal and focused instead on my thoughts about dads, parenting, and family togetherness.  Later, I added kids music and homeschooling to the mix of topics I write about.

The title came from the book “A River Runs Through It” by Norman Maclean.  I thought it a clever play on words, since I created the blog to be about family activities throughout the Northwest (the book takes place in Montana).

4.) I enjoy all of your photos on your blog.  Who takes most of them?

99% of the time, I’m behind the camera, which is why there are so few pictures of me in our collection.  Many times I’ve thought about upgrading to a real DSLR, but I love carrying around my point-and-shoot camera in my pocket and being able to get quick shots that I might otherwise miss.

5.) Tell us a little about your children and wife please!

My kids are a boy, 9, and a girl, 6.  My wife is 30-something.  In keeping with my policy of semi-anonymity for them, I’m going to avoid names and careers.  First thing my wife said to me after I started blogging:  “Don’t write about me, please.”

6.) Do you see yourself as being a homeschool success story?  Why or why not?

Actually, I kind of do.  Only because I see my son thriving at home.  He loves learning new things.  He’s happier than I’ve ever seen him before.  He’s having the kind of idyllic childhood that most kids dream about.  I expect to see the same reaction from my daughter.

7.) What can other homeschool dads do to make this journey work better for their family?  (i.e. what have you learned?)

You have to be flexible.  We follow a structured curriculum, but I have to constantly be watching my son’s learning.  If he struggles with something, we slow down and take the time.  We push back other lessons, or leave them for another day.  If he’s not in a math mood, we wait until he is.  I don’t care when he learns it, just that he does learn it.  Some days we’ll do science all day.  Or history, which he loves.  Other days we’ll just skip everything and head to the library.

I’ve also learned that kids like an involved parent.  You don’t just give them a worksheet or a book to read.  You read it along with them at first.  In history, I do all the voices and sound effects.  I stop to give him my own perspective on a subject, or we look it up on Google to get more information.

8.) How can homeschooling moms be more of an encouragment to homeschooling dads?

Fold the laundry for them.

9.) Do you have a favorite resource that you would reccommend?

My son’s a geography nut, and he likes this site, the Traveler IQ Challenge:
http://www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq

I look to the blog Why Homeschool for excellent resources, ideas, and advice:
http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/

10.) Can you remind our readers what category you won a 2006 HSBA award in?  What did you think upon discovering you had won?

I won the Best Homeschooling Dad Blog.  My first thought was, “You like me, you really like me!”

Phil Corless
www.pkmeco.com

Thanks so much for your answers.  I really enjoyed reading your perspective.