Unlike LeBron James’ much hyped televised decision to “take his talents to South Beach,” your decision to homeschool will involve much less fanfare. However, much like James, you will probably face some big decisions and questions in the years to come.
We made the decision when our son was just 6 months old. It was a culmination of things mostly not great public schools and the 5 figure tuition of the private schools. I never expected to homeschool, and I don’t think it was a decision that we took lightly. We asked ourselves a lot of questions and hit up some conventions before officially deciding to keep our kids home.
Some good questions to ask yourself:
- Am I doing this for the right reasons? Whether your reasons are religious, social, political, financial, or anything else you need to make sure you aren’t doing it to prove you are a Supermom or whatever else you think you need to prove. Your heart has to be in it at least most of the time.
- Is my spouse/children’s other parent supportive? Homeschooling, in most instances, takes teamwork. While there are people who go at it without the support of their children’s other parent I don’t think I could do it. I give them a lot of credit. My husband has stepped up to the plate more than once, and we are only in preschool.
- What do I expect? I don’t mean this in a what will I get from this way. I mean it in a do I think I am going to do school at home way. School at home works for some families, and other families need to have more freedom. Different styles of schooling work for different seasons, but what is your ideal? I love the classical approach, but right now unit studies are a better fit for this season of our lives.
- What activities are important? I know so many homeschool parents {myself included} who love the freedom it provides. However, the downside of that is it becomes easy to sign our kids up for every activity under the sun. We have them at soccer on Monday, karate on Tuesday, violin on Wednesday, and so on. Pick a few activities. My son LOVES soccer, so we make sure he is on a soccer team. We also do art and gymnastics through our city recreation department. The classes are only 30 minutes, but as they get longer we will start to re-evaluate and make choices.
- What does my child want? If you are doing this from the get go like us then he or she will know nothing different. I’m sure the day will come where one of my kids will ask to try traditional school, and we will cross that bridge when it comes. If you are pulling a child from school you need to really hear their concerns. Don’t brush it off as “I said we’re homeschooling and that’s that.” It won’t be a good start to the whole thing. Are they worried about losing their friends or have a teacher that they love? Hear their thoughts. Don’t just shrug them off. Discuss them. Make them feel like they are a part of the decision. It doesn’t mean you do what they want. It just means you hear their side and try to understand it.
What advice do you have for parents making the decision? How did it come about in your home?
Your point #5 was right on: The day before I started high school, my mom sat me down & said I’m not going & that’s that. She was going through a time of depression & anxiety & so not only did I lose my friends from school, I didn’t get the chance to make new ones with other homeschoolers. That was almost 20 years ago but it has forever impacted me.
This year I have started homeschooling my oldest who is 5 & it’s surprising how many emotions have come to the surface because of it & will impact how I homeschool my own. Thanks for the article!
That is a great list. We pulled my son out of PS when he was in 1st grade. We did ask him if he was interested in doing school from home, but honestly it wasn’t his decision-it would have happened even if he said no. We really talked up homeschool with him. We had so many problems with the school. He has asked a few time to go back to school and I remind him how long the days were and he only had 1 recess.