Maybe this is your reality. It’s just a few months into the school year and things are not going well. Perhaps you are finding yourself in a position where you’re either entertaining or revisiting the topic of homeschooling.
If this describes your situation, you may also be wondering if you should take the plunge. Sometimes the answer to this question isn’t crystal clear. While there are a myriad of reasons for and against homeschooling, here are some of the most common you may be mulling.
Unity
Believe it or not, this is first and foremost! Are you and your spouse on the same page regarding homeschooling? Are they they giving you the green light or digging their heels in in disagreement? I can tell you from my years of homeschooling nothing is more difficult than not being on the same page (or even the same book!) regarding the choice to homeschool. If this is your situation, I would suggest prayer and lots of open discussion. What exactly is their issue with homeschool? For the most part, lack of information with misconceptions is the common issue. This lack of knowledge could be remedied by some real life fact finding including a trip to your local homeschool convention. In this way, the doubting spouse could meet other homeschool families, talk to curriculum publishers and attend seminars to learn more about the pros, advantages and opportunities homeschooling can provide. This may or may not quell the doubts but it will open to door to communication between the two or you that is also a key component to homeschooling.
Ability
Depending on the age and abilities of your children will help shed light on what abilities you need to possess to home educate your children. Here’s the amazing piece of information I found – as the parent, you are uniquely equipped to teach your child! Who knows them better? YOU DO!
While the younger years prove more labor intensive the material itself is easy. So does that mean that the harder the material, the harder it is on mom or dad? No. What generally happens throughout the homeschool years is that children begin to gain the ability to work independently generally in the mid to late elementary grades. So, by the time middle and especially high school hits, the parent is generally facilitating learning rather than teaching.
For most parents, science and more specifically science labs sends them into shock. Fortunately with the growth in the homeschool community it is fairly easy to find a co-op where labs are offered. If you can’t find one, you can always start your own. The great thing is you don’t need a PhD to lead a coop. If you have middle to high school level classes it is possible for them to do their reading and learning at home and then come together to do the labs. In this way, you become the facilitator. Supply the materials and oversite as needed.
Allow the students to perform, analyze and write up the labs on their own. You’ll be surprised what they can do!
Check out the many homeschooling resources at Rainbow Resources!
