Friday, June 14, 2013

"Do you have the ability to teach your kids?"

There are times when I am constantly defending my decision to homeschool my children. But then there are times when I am not. At the end of the day, it really is no one else's business or concern. God gave me a family, and I make joint decisions with my husband as to what's best for us. In our case, and in accordance with God's word, we made the decision to homeschool.



Homeschooling is not a new idea. In fact, before schoolhouses even existed, people were schooling their children in their homes. Although that's almost the extent of my knowledge about homeschooling history, I do know that in modern society, homeschooling is still practiced.

So, what's the stigma about it? Why is there a negative spotlight on homeschooling? I guess when I didn't consider homeschooling, the whole idea of it seemed odd to me. How will my kids get socialized? What will come of their education after the homeschool phase is over? Will they get accepted into a university? Are they going to be "weird" because they were homeschooled? Is their education not going to be as good as it could have been had they gone to a public or private school establishment? Do I have the ability to teach my kids?

All these questions (and then some) have run through my brain, time and time again. And each time one of those questions come to my mind, I get more and more confident with my answers.

I've done my research. I know that homeschooling is best for my kids.

I'm going to tackle the "do I have the ability to teach my kids" question.

I'll first give you my background of my junior high and high school years. In a nutshell, I was not the brightest student. There are many reasons for this, but the biggest culprits were:

  • I did not care about school;
  • I was more interested in the social side of school;
  • I did not pay attention; and
  • Once I missed something, I did not care to try and catch up and continue on. Because the points I listed above were at the forefront of my mind

I was not switched on back then. I had a circle of friends, and that was all I cared about. My education and my marks were just not a priority, and believe me, I've paid dearly for that mindset since then. With the combination of which way I could have lead my career, the flack I got from my family about "how much better I could have done", to even today where people close to me question my ability to teach my children based on my marks in school.

I know my abilities. I know what I can and can't do. And I can tell you with great surety that I am more than able to school my kids, at least until the high school point. When we get to the high school point, which is many many years away, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. It's about knowing your abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. I know I am strong, for example, in Language Arts and Social Studies, and I know that I am not so strong (and showed no care) in Science and Math when I was in school. I will get help to teach these subjects, that is, if I find that I am having trouble teaching it. I am interested to know these subjects more closely and accurately at this point, and will be more than able to convey the material to my young ones, when the time comes.

There are plenty of places online, in libraries, in schools, in playgroups, in EVERYWHERE to find help with subjects you are not comfortable to teach. If you feel you are really unable to teach a particular subject, get a tutor to help. Pinterest is a great place online, as an example, of teachers and homeschoolers getting together and gathering ideas of how to teach materials. That is only one place, out of the many, where you can look around online for help. And it's not only limited to help!

There is support for homeschoolers everywhere you look. The trick is, you just have to look. You don't have to have a university degree to teach your kids at home. It is our rights as parents to do make the decision to homeschool. If you feel that homeschooling is the right choice for your family, then by all means, do it! Don't let your lack of good grades in school, lack of family support, and negative people get you down about it. Homeschooling is a wonderful, personal, arguably the most optimal way to school your children.

1 comment:

Please, let me know what you think!