by Janny Jackson
How do you define homeschooling?
Does it mean your child is doing public/virtual school led by a state certified teacher, at home, while you monitor that it is actually getting done?
Or does it mean that a parent takes their child’s education into their own hands, spends hours/days/weeks researching the curriculum best fit for their child’s learning needs and your teaching style, planning the ins and outs of the days, waking up early to fulfill the school day’s needs, teaching and sitting beside your child as they complete their work, making yourself available at all times, keeping record of days spent schooling, and planning extracurriculars and field trips, for an entire school year?
In case you aren’t sure, it’s the second one.
Homeschool is not just having your child do school at home. Homeschooling involves being an active participant in your child’s education. And I’m not just talking about going to school meetings. I’m talking about curating every bit of your child’s education, whether taught by yourself, or outsourced, for an entire school year.
It is a job. And as I said in 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Homeschooling, “You have to be prepared to hold yourself accountable, because as a homeschooler you are responsible for your little learners and their education, and it is not something that should be taken lightly.”
I have seen many a homeschool parent curriculum hopping because of shallow reasons that include lack of motivation or they just didn’t “like” the way it taught. I have also seen parents who call themselves homeschoolers hand their child some curriculum and basically say “figure it out”, and when the child starts taking short cuts or refusing to do the work, they hop to another curriculum hoping that that will fix the problem.
If I could have a conversation with that parent, I would implore them to focus on their child and not on themselves. What does your child need? Does your child need a NEW curriculum? Or does he need YOU?
Homeschooling requires sacrifice. It requires YOUR time.
It is mentally, emotionally, and physically draining. It makes you question whether you are making the right decision for your child time and time again. But it is also one of the most rewarding and fulfilling jobs one can have, knowing that you are shaping your child’s education, worldview, and raising them to become the respectable adult that you pray they will be once they leave your house.
The fact of the matter is that most children on their own will not want to do school, whether at a public school or at home. No matter how exciting and new a curriculum is eventually they will get bored with it and would rather play outside or be on video games.
A child’s ability to have independence in homeschooling and be able to complete work assigned, whether they feel like it or not, is a skill that must be taught and enforced over many years of schooling. Homeschooling in the beginning years involves a lot of hand holding and walking through how to complete the assigned tasks and stay on schedule. Newly homeschooled kids especially cannot be expected to be handed books and teach themselves. That is a skill that needs to be built over time.
At the end of the day, what it comes down to is Accountability over Curriculum.
In summary:
Do sit down and do school with your child.
Don’t hand your child a book and expect them to teach themselves.
Do expect it to take up a lot of time and mental energy.
Don’t expect lifelong skills to develop overnight.
Do plan on having to schedule out the days.
Don’t compare your homeschool or your child to another’s.
Do have patience in teaching your child the skills needed to be independent.
Don’t commit to a curriculum just because everyone else is doing it.
Do have self-discipline and hold your child accountable for daily tasks.
Don’t curriculum hop just because you don’t “like” the curriculum.
Have you read Why You Shouldn’t Homeschool? I would never try to dissuade a parent against homeschooling if they have in their heart that that is what is best for their family. However, it is not always possible in all seasons of life, and you must truly evaluate whether homeschooling, true homeschooling, is something you can fully commit to, or if you need to reevaluate your priorities and commitments in order to make it happen.
What are your thoughts? Let me know below. And as always, thanks for being here.