Home School My Child - Home School Your Child

When people first hear that I home school my child, the reaction is usually the same. Shock is quickly followed by curiosity and the inevitable "Oh, I could never home school my child." The exact wording of each obstacle varies, but the basic sentiments rarely change. Objections include everything from patience to finances, though the ultimate fear of home schooling may simply be a fear of the unknown. Shedding light on these areas of uncertainty and becoming familiar with the formerly "unknowns" may alleviate that fear and leave you free to make a truly informed decision. Who knows? Maybe you really can home school your child. Here are a few FVO. (Frequently Voiced Objections)

If I home school my child, she'll never learn to socialize.

As I considered home schooling for my family, I took into consideration the social skills that we all want our children to possess. In general, I believe most parents would like nothing more than to raise a confident, polite adult who is secure in his identity and comfortable in any given situation but most importantly, to lead a productive, happy life. Traits such as codependency- the need to fit in- and the inability to reason independently are not exactly written in the baby book under "dreams and goals." This isn't to say that a perfectly adjusted person cannot come out of a public school system, nor am I suggesting that all home schooled children are perfect. However, when I home school my child, I am confident that giving him a secure knowledge that he is loved no matter how many times he tries and fails is developing a confidence to explore and grow exponentially.

I also know that interacting with a variety of ages and types of people, as encountered during real life experiences, is teaching him to be comfortable with many different social situations. A home schooled child draws his social skills from direct examples within an encouraging, family environment. The student growing in a public school is gathering traits from a group of children, who not only are clustered into an artificial environment, an environment which they will not encounter during their adult life but who are also still learning and growing in their own social skills.

Now, if your only concern about socialization is whether or not your child can play sports or meet friends, it's a much more simple issue. Home schooling families often gather in large groups and participate together in an endless list of activities. If your local group doesn't offer an activity you are interested in, just mention it; most likely, some one else would like it, too, and soon it will be up and running.

I can't home school my child, I'm not qualified.

It is a long-standing myth that a home schooled parent must hold a teaching degree. This is simply not true. While each country and state does have its own laws and regulations regarding home schools, I know of none who require a degree. The vast amount of resources available to your student, from costly curricula to hands on museums to internet encyclopedias and the library, allow even the most difficult subjects to be broached with confidence. If further assistance is required, Internet home schools and online tutors are a viable option to you as well. Ultimately, parents who have only a high school diploma have led their children through complicated high school transcripts and on to full college degrees.

Do you remember that moment when you discovered that a new little person was joining your family? Or the first time you held her...and she cried? I would venture to guess that your first thoughts were not, "Oh, I'm so glad I'm qualified for this!" Parenting, at its very core, is not something that a person feels completely prepared to do. In fact, it is a growing process in which you learn nearly as much (sometimes daily) from your children as they learn from you. The same can be said of home schooling. For some, home schooling their children is a natural course of raising them- right alongside things like walking and table manners.

If I home school my child, he'll never experience "the real world."

This objection is almost silly when examined a bit. To put it in yummier terms, which is better: instant potato flakes or Aunt Betty Sue's home-made, made-from-scratch, make-you-drool mashed potatoes? In other words, do you prefer simulated version of things or the authentic version? Unless your Aunt Betty Sue can't cook like mine, I'd bet you prefer authenticity to boxed imitations. Applying that to home school versus public school, we instantly see the problem with this objection. Public schools offer a version of the real world, but how many real life experiences can one have whilst stuck in one or two buildings with the same people for the majority of his young life? The idea that home schooling families sit at a desk, surrounded by siblings doing hours of school work followed by even more hours of chores should be erased at this point. Home schooled students do complete book work daily, but it is accomplished with much greater efficiency when each individual works at his or her own pace. Once this has been done, the rest of the day is free to experience the genuinely "real" world. Observing a parent's daily tasks teaches first-hand applications of things such as budgeting, home economics, work ethic and anything else needed to function in society. Older students are free to implement that work ethic and fiscal responsibility through part-time jobs. These experiences are what lead home schooled children to grow and become active in their communities as adults.

It should be noted, however, that boxed meals are always easier than the real meals that they imitate. Home schooling can be labeled many things, none of which should include the word "easy." But then, who ever said that raising children was easy, either?

I can't afford to home school my child.

Budgets and finances applying to any given situation are always relative. You may meet a family who has the desire and ability to pay thousands of dollars per year to enroll all of their children in an Internet home school, and it may be true that you cannot afford that. However, a homeschooling family who uses the library and purchases used curriculum will find that they can home school many children for only a few hundred dollars per year. Maybe you have heard how much it costs to send your child to public school ($6000-$8000), but it may be that the public schools could not afford your method of schooling. The bottom line is, you make allowances in your budget for the things that you feel are necessary. For some, this includes home school and they do what they can to make it work. It has been said that a home school can even be free, if necessary. The flexibility that characterizes home schooling allows you the freedom to choose exactly what works for your family. Resources such as the internet and public libraries have done wonders for affordable home schooling. Traditional curriculum is easily found at low prices through used book fairs and by networking with other home schooling parents. A great resource for teaching home school moms "How to use the library to home school my child" is The Full-Year Notebook System. The simple techniques taught in this resource empower the parent to schedule their home school efficiently no matter which resources they choose to use.

A common stereotype of the home schooling family is a middle to upper-class family whose Mother stays home and schools the children while Father works a simple nine-to-five shift. Many home schooled families stand in stark contrast to this squeaky-clean picture. Single parents, working parents and grandparents are also among the successful home schooling families who have found a realistic way to affordably and successfully home school.

I don't have the patience to home school my child.

A general mentality of our primarily public or private schooled generation is that we should be impatient with our children. We are supposed to be exhausted when they are around us for a few hours each night, thrilled when they finally go to bed and dreading the morning routine. Back-to-school season strikes joy in the hearts of parents everywhere. What happens when we step away from those thoughts momentarily, and really examine the situation? Think about how many years your children are in your home and under your guidance. Think about those few years that they are so eager to learn all that you present to them. Think about how quickly that time passes. Now, count up all of the hours that your children may spend in a public school. How many lost moments does that total? How many discoveries and accomplishments did you miss?

I can't tell you to home school your child. I can't tell you for sure that it will be right for your family. What I can tell you, though, is what I have experienced. I home school my child to be sure his developing years are tailored to his needs. I home school my child to guide his experiences within a loving, accepting environment. I home school my child to be sure that he gets the most out of every educational opportunity- whether or not it is in a book. Above all, I home school my child because he is my child and my time with him is short. Do I get tired? Yes. Do I get impatient? Daily. Will that stop me? Not a chance. The world is big, and I only have so much time to introduce him to it before he meets it on his own. That is why I home school my child.

But, that's just me.