Homeschooling Negatives (and Some Positives)
Unless the topic turns to school, I rarely bring up the fact that we homeschool. Last night, while the three youngest and I were waiting for our take-out pizza to be ready, a mother and her three little ones were waiting next to us. She started the conversation, and then when I said I homeschool, I could see her eyes examine each of my children, and the conversation died.
I looked at my kids. They looked normal. They stayed with me in the restaurant entry, they weren’t loud, and they didn’t cause a commotion. I am curious as to what was going on in her mind.
On the other hand, on several occasions, a similar conversation has resulted in the person’s choosing to homeschool or to send their children to the Christian school.
When I am around a group of public school mothers, I hate their jokes about how they “couldn’t homeschool”. They often act rude and ignorant. It does make me feel left out, and of course, misunderstood. I do feel bad for the mothers who confess to me that they wish they could homeschool, but… their husband doesn’t want to, or they have to work, etc.
I don’t like it when public-schooled children only invite their “class” to their birthday parties.
Instead of it getting easier after eleven years of homeschooling, I find other people’s reaction to homeschooling to be more annoying than ever. They really don’t understand it. It seems that some of the few who have actually tried homeschooling, get burned out or quit because they have used a common, yet overwhelming, teacher-based approach.
I do wish people wouldn’t make homeschooling so complicated.
Schools (and unfortunately many homeschools) are set up so that the teacher “teaches” and the children “learn”. Children quickly become dependant on their teacher. Children only learn what they have to learn (at the most), and they think they can only understand things that are taught and explained to them.
I want my children to be able to figure things out for themselves. I want them to know MORE than me. I don’t want them to have to rely on the education and knowledge of a certain person - even if that person has a teaching degree.
In our homeschool, my main work is to organize and provide lots of quality literature and materials. My children’s main work is to read, work, and get educated. I continue to manage and monitor to a minor degree.
In my experience, the self-teaching method of homeschooling does not cause a parent to get burned out. Homeschooling in this way is not a big deal. People ask, “How do you do it?” And honestly, it is generally very easy. I don’t play teacher.
For the most part, the children work on their own, and only come to me with the subjects that I want to involve me (like calling out spelling, correcting math, and holding up Latin flashcards). Homeschooling that emphasizes self-teaching works well in homes with several children of various ages (including infants, preschoolers, and teens). Self-taught homeschoolers can continue learning every day, even if their mother is sick, pregnant, has a newborn, or has to work part-time.
Just because I find the homeschooling lifestyle to be freeing, does not mean that I don’t get annoyed on occasion. I get frustrated sometimes when the children: get too many math errors, make essays too short, get things wrong because they are in a hurry, write too messy, leave flashcards in pants pocket and the flashcards go through the wash, leave books all over the house, forget math-related concepts but she remembers EVERYTHING else, forget to do an assignment, etc. These things are mostly not homeschool specific, but can exist for a “homework” parent as well.
I guess the point of this post is to say that homeschooling isn’t (and doesn’t have to be) the big deal that people make of it. Homeschooling does not take a supermom. Nor superkids for that matter. And we are not freaks. We just live. And learn. In freedom.
http://parentingfreedom.com/homeschooling
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4 Responses to “Homeschooling Negatives (and Some Positives)”
By Twila on Aug 8, 2008 | Reply
Good essay!
By Amie on Aug 9, 2008 | Reply
Great post!
By Edith on Aug 11, 2008 | Reply
Ditto on the great post!!!!
By carol on Aug 11, 2008 | Reply
Thanks.