Dear New Homeschooler
It's that time of year when school plans are being made and parents make the seemingly enormous decision to homeschool their children. I often tell parents that actually making the decision to homeschool is by far the most difficult piece of the homeschooling puzzle. It is never easy to jump off a track that seems as though is the only option to a future of success for one's child. Let me assure you that homeschooling is doable and that you won't ruin your child.
I'll be starting my twenty-fifth year of homeschooling in the fall. In the past twenty-four years I have tried a lot of different styles, bought a lot of curricula, done a fair bit of worrying, and graduated six children from high school. I have some opinions. (I realize that's not a surprise to my regular readers.) I thought, since now is the high point in the year of parents researching homeschooling, that it might be helpful to link to some of my how-to posts where they are easy to find.
First, the how-to posts:
Once a family decides they are going to go the homeschooling route, the next inevitable question is curricula. Usually as in, what cheap curriculum can I buy so that my children will be well-educated, I won't have to do anything (because I'm not feeling qualified to homeschool and don't really feel as though I know anything), will engage my children, and possibly even make sure they clean their rooms. I hate to break it to you, but it doesn't exist. You can maybe have one of those pieces (except the room cleaning), but you certainly won't find them all in one package. Ultimately it doesn't really matter what, if any, curriculum you choose as it is a matter of what you and your children put into it. Curricula is a tool for learning. That's it. It holds no mystical powers and choosing the "right" curriculum does not guarantee... well... anything.
And then there are the special questions... My child has learning challenges, can I still homeschool? But I have lots of ages, I don't know how to make it work! I don't know what to do with my preschooler.
Never fear, I've written on those topics as well.
Finally, there's high school. I have lost track of the number of people who have said to me that they can't homeschool (often their child is in early grade school) because they can't teach algebra or chemistry. That's usually the first reason. The second is because they don't want their child to miss out on prom. It would be a little more honest just to say they don't want to homeschool in general. I've farmed out high school math and science to tutors who could teach it. I've had children who were able to teach it to themselves. I've had children take community college classes for upper level math and science. There are pretty simple ways around this supposed problem. And prom? Really? Because everyone who attends public high school goes to prom? I didn't. I lived... quite well, actually. How utterly silly to throw away an educational option because of one dance your child may or may not attend anyway. I realize that I have written very little about homeschooling high school. There are probably a variety of reasons for that. Those reasons range from my children taking over their own education at that age to the difficulty of blogging publicly about ones teens to my ever growing belief that high school just isn't worth any more effort than first grade. (I realize this is tantamount to heresy in today's educational climate.) Perhaps someday I'll explore all my thoughts about high school here. In the interim, I have written a couple of posts.
If you're still here, I'll give you my homeschool elevator speech.
If you read to your child, discuss things with them, are interested in the world, and form a strong emotional connection with your child, you cannot ruin them through homeschooling. Anything beyond these things... sharing language, sharing thoughts and ideas, and emotional health and connection... is just icing on the cake. Education is not difficult, even if some educator lobbies and curricula publishers would tell you otherwise.
I really am happy to discuss homeschooling privately if you need more encourage. Just send me an email.
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