“To Home School or Not to Home School…”

Today’s homeschooling has changed.
How it is different
and why you should learn more.

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“If one thinks about it a bit, it becomes clearer that
raising highly competent and completely sane children
is the only possible hope for making an insane world sane.”
~Glenn Doman

Before I had children, I held the common stereotype image of kids who were home schooled. The kids I knew that were a product of homeschooling were – well, to put it kindly – a bit different than all the other kids. They didn’t quite seem to fit in or know how to interact. They were a bit introverted and, well, just different. I swore I would never home school my children.

However, after actually having my own children (I have two little boys) my thoughts on a lot of things changed. You know the old expression, “you never really know something until you try it?”

Watching these two amazing little people grow and learn has changed my views on many, many subjects. Things that didn’t seem important to me before somehow crept up front and center on my radar screen. Homeschooling is one of those things.

The Controversy

A lot of people have a lot of differing opinions on this topic. People often seem to get a little heated when discussing how to raise a child. Some people are totally pro home schooling and won’t let their child set foot in the public education system. Others believe that you have to introduce them to the world through public education or they will never learn how to fit in. Yet, many are undecided and have no solid opinion either way so they just go with the flow.

Since becoming a parent, I have been studying (and I mean really studying) about babies, toddlers, and kids. How do they develop physically, mentally, emotionally? How to they learn? What is the best-of-the-best way to do, well, just about everything kid-related?

The more I study, I realize that our current educational system just doesn’t have the tools and resources it needs to make our children really magnificent in today’s world. Teachers are struggling with strict government requirements, large class sizes, limited supplies, and they often supplement those supplies from their own low-salaries. Teachers just flat out don’t have the time, tools, or support required to educate our kids in a way that does justice to the genius in every one of them.

Today is Different from Yesterday

As indicated earlier, I wasn’t exposed much to homeschooling when I was younger. From my own research and talking with other moms who home school, there us is an abundance of resources for parents who home school. Gone are the days where books were a scarce commodity and you had to ride 10 miles one way in a horse-drawn carriage to the local library that had less than 30 books, half of which were checked at any given time.

The internet has radically changed the way we learn, and has opened up a wealth of knowledge at the click of a mouse. Even if you used nothing else but Google and YouTube, you would probably never find the end of things you could learn.

Click HERE to learn more about the resources available for homeschooling today.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions…

So, there are a few options here to consider.

1. Leave your child in school and place your child’s education in the hands of an overburdened system.
2. Supplement your child’s education at home through your own teaching, internet courses, tutors, etc.
3. Take the plunge and start home school.

These are big decisions. I am not saying that there is only one right way, either. Everyone is different, and every child is different. Some children don’t want to be home schooled – they may be doing well in public school. Other children (such my friend’s 11-year-old daughter) ask their parents to be home schooled for a variety of reasons.

What do I do?

Evaluate your situation. You know your children better than anyone else. Here are a few questions to consider when contemplating this important topic.

• Are they doing well in school or do they loathe the alarm clock every morning?
• Does your child complain of illnesses such as stomach pain or headaches and request to stay home from school frequently?
• Do they have a lot of good friends or do they struggle socially?
• Is your child having behavioral issues or disciplinary issues?
• What is the school system like in your area?
• What are the teachers like in their school?

Many times, a child who is having what we term behavioral issues is trying to communicate some level of distress they are experiencing. It is not just little Johnny ‘being difficult and stubborn,’ or little Mary ‘faking’ stomach ache. As parents, it is our job to look for and listen to these indirect requests for help.

Ultimately, you get to make the choice about your child’s education. Whether home schooling is right for you or not, your children can learn from you. They want to learn from you. They are learning from you.

Become an Active Participant in Your Child’s Education

There is so much more to learn about life than arithmetic, grammar, and what year Columbus sailed to the Americas. The educational system is strapped to teach your kids those basics.

Lessons of helping others, community involvement, discovering what you are uniquely good at doing love to do, and many, many more aren’t part of the public schools’ curriculum. Yet these lessons are essential to creating a happy, well-balanced life for you and your child.

Whatever path of education you choose for your child, become an active participant in what you are teaching them. It doesn’t have to be all-consuming either. You can weave a whole lot of learning seamlessly into your daily lives.