For us, deschooling has been a major part of our homeschooling venture.
Daughter spent almost 8 years in public school before we pulled her out. At first I saw deschooling as a phase we would go through and eventually come out on the other side of.
First, what exactly is deschooling?
I refer you here to TammyT @ Just Enough And Nothing More who, along with running a fabulous website about homeschooling (one of my first and favourite resources), has written a book called “Deschooling Gently”.
From Tammy’s Website:
“Deschooling is a transition from relying on external measurements of success, to instead finding our own rhythm, meaning, and goals. Deschooling is the process of becoming unleashed from the habitual ideas of what education is, which gives us new tools which are more compatible and appropriate for learning at home with our children.”
“…becoming unleashed from the habitual ideas of what education is…”
Though I don’t know where I first heard it, there is a theory out there that a measure of one month for every year your child was in school is a good estimate of how long your family will need to spend deschooling.
By that, we should have been done deschooling well over a year ago. But after two years of homeschooling (banked against our family’s collective 51 years in school), I’m realizing that my deschooling will always play some part in how we manage this journey.
Even as recently as last week, I was frustrated because Daughter wanted to skip half a page in her Math workbook and move on to something else instead.
Me: Why don’t you want to finish the page? It’s only three more questions?
Daughter: It’s boring, I want to do something else.
Me: But you’re just starting to get it, this is good practice.
Daughter: Practice for what?
Me: (sigh)
I still have it my head that it’s not enough that she understands something and that she’s not really learning until she’s willing to prove it for no good reason.
It’s moments like this that make me see that, whether or not she’s done deschooling, I still have a while to go yet.
You’re doing great, Zayna
We’re all deschooling all of the time. There is no end point. Remember that, and these moments are no longer a reminder of being on a long, hard road. Rather, this is part of what’s good about homeschooling. You have the freedom to learn too, by making mistakes, and having these kinds of back and forths with your daughter. This is a good thing. Embrace them 
Happy homeschooling!
Thanks Tammy – As always, your words are very reassuring. I also see it as progress that I only sighed in response to the scenario.
It’s not that long ago that I would have entered into a futile debate about why it’s so important to just finish those last three questions.