5 Homeschooling Myths
I guess I’m a homeschooling mum?! Three years in I think I can say we’re really doing it! It’s funny how many people have got things to say. Lots of fun opinions, thoughts and beliefs that people make sure you know. I have no problem with the conversation opening up, I just thought it would be fun to de-bunk some myths, or some of the most common assumptions I’ve heard. Let’s go.
Homeschooled kids are unsocial
Okay, it’s the one I’ve heard the most. People somehow assume that kids will suddenly become socially inept if homeschooled. The truth is, that we socialise everywhere. The library, the charity shop, on holidays, getting groceries, heading to the senior’s morning, meeting the neighbours. For me, one of the major pulls of homeschooling is that my kids get to socialise with people of *all* ages, their socialisation isn’t limited to their age group. For me, the concern of becoming unsocial is only a problem if we aren’t giving them an opportunity to socialise. I think people tend to hear the term ‘homeschool’ and assume we’re always home with curtains drawn and hiding from the world, that homeschooling is avoidant of the world. However, we spend ALOT of time outside the home or in other people’s homes. Clubs, meetups, church, forest school, plus, we LOVE and NEED interaction with other humans. So while it’s called homeschooling, we aren’t always home and school doesn’t suddenly qualify you as socially aware.
Homeschooled kids are weird- they will seem different.
First of all…is weird bad? What makes someone weird? Weird can be defined as: ‘someone with extraordinary character; fantastic’. I don’t know about you but I think I want that for my kids. I don’t want my kids to be the same as everyone else. I could put the question the other way: Are schooled kids weird because of the things they have learnt at school? There is fun, quirky, wild and whacky people in the world for sure and a handful of them are gonna be homeschooled and a handful of them will be in mainstream school. However, going in further on this, I think our kids will seem different. They are living in a different paradigm, one where I can set the tone for their input and because of that they are influenced less by the outside world which for me is necessary with what I am currently observing the world to be for them. I get to hear my kid’s conversations (sometimes good, sometimes bad), and I get to homeschool as a very close tight-knit group so I know we all hold similar values, I know what they are eating and where it comes from. I get to curate their learning based on focus and passion. To be honest it’s not normal. But it can be and I want it to be. I have questioned a lot whether I am being too protective or too naive yet, at the same time, I think school is raising kids too fast. Kids are continually being prepared for adulthood their most precious years are being stolen with hands told to write and bottoms taught to sit. We also happen to be a Jesus following-non-alcohol drinking-refined-sugar-free-non-tv-watching-holistic-nontoxic family. We’re already different and weird before we’ve even added homeschooling to the list. And, we’re okay with that.
You need lots of space/things/money
Before I started homeschooling I had Pinterest boards, the wooden sandpaper letters and the pretty shelves. It turns out sandpaper letters don’t make kids learn the alphabet. Of course, certain things help and inspire but I’ve learnt that you really don’t need a lot. I’ve learnt that kids are always learning whether we have the tools we imagine or not. Anything can be a learning opportunity. The five-minute drive in the car, the filling of the kettle or dividing the pizza dough. You could spend a fortune on homeschooling, there are so many wonderful clubs, groups and ways to outsource. But as an encouragement, homeschooling looks very basic to us right now (it’s amazing how far you can get with some cardboard) and it really can in these early years and that’s ok. There are several free curriculums out there too (Ambleside and The Good and The Beautiful) and lots of people to draw wisdom from that doesn’t cost anything. You can be savvy with sourcing resources and we love to pool resources as friends.
You need to be a teacher/ intelligent
Who would you say are the most important teachers in your kid’s life…guess what? It’s us. We teach/show our kids to walk and talk and eat, we are who they are looking to to gain a sense of life. We are the most qualified people to continue that journey. This is not a discredit to teachers it’s simply to say we so quickly outsource something I believe is to remain with us inside the home. Many people don’t homeschool because they disqualify themselves. While I did okay in school, I’m not home-educating because I think I can. This blog has plenty of grammatical errors to know that my intellect is average. I am not here to teach them what I know, but to learn alongside them. I am not teaching AT them but learning with them. So far the majority of our learning has been passion-led, it’s SO much easier when that is the case. Teaching my kids doesn’t look like staying up late reciting parts of a book to then throw back to them in the morning and it doesn’t even look like lesson plans. it’s more like : let’s ask questions, who do we know who might know more about that, let’s get books about that, let’s experiment
This is how I want my kids to make sense of the world, not learning a biology textbook by heart to then fact exam questions that are so strangely answered they don’t even test your knowledge but more your deciphering skills. What would make you feel qualified to teach your kids at home? What makes a teacher qualified? After 14+ years of education do you not think you’re qualified? You don’t need amazing general knowledge to homeschool or a maths degree. You do of course have to be motivated, willing to learn and grow. I recognise this is all said without me having a super genius kid on my hands, I know some homeschool parents feel stuck on what to do when the kid’s passion for learning outweighs what they feel they can give. I can’t give much wisdom here at the moment, but I’m sure others/other blogs can.
You have to have the patience of a saint
I often hear comments like, “Wow, I could never do that!” or even, “You’re a superhuman!” While I know these are well-meaning, I find them a bit odd. They suggest I’m doing something extraordinary, which I guess I am culturally since most people send their kids to school. But to me, being with your children all day is how humans have lived for most of history and how it should be.
Trust me, I didn’t choose homeschooling because it’s easy or because of some special temperament. I can’t help think we’ve come to see children as nuisances and therefore childhood as preparation for school. Society tells us we can’t manage our own children yet assures us that a stranger can do it better?! Does the stranger have more patience than us? Are they a super-human too? Teachers have a whole entire class of kids! Again, I wonder if people are imagining me and my kids sitting for the whole 8 hours of the day in front of a blackboard practicing handwriting and reciting poetry. That’s not what I need the patience for, it’s getting Moses’ shoes on before leaving the house and doesn’t everyone have to do that for the school run anyway? Patience grows, you have enough for your children and He gives you enough for each day!