Transcriber: Anna Sobota Reviewer: David DeRuwe
When you give birth to a child,
you are sent home from the hospital with a brand-spanking-new human being
and little to no instructions whatsoever.
And so, in addition to the countless feedings and diaper changes,
it is your job as the parent to teach your little child everything
that he or she needs to know,
like how to use those adorable little fingers, how to walk,
how to talk, and my least favorite, how to use the potty.
As your child grows,
so does the enormous amount of decisions that you, the parent, must make.
But perhaps no decision is as important
as the decision you must make regarding your child’s education.
To preschool or not to preschool?
Oh, and you’d better think quickly on this one.
Those preschool slots fill up fast!
Some preschools have long waiting lists
and can be harder to get into than some colleges.
To public school or private school?
Ah, and then there’s another option,
an option that many more families are choosing now over recent years,
homeschooling.
Though homeschooling has recently exploded due to the pandemic,
it’s actually not new.
Homeschooling has always existed.
It’s just that back then, it wasn’t called homeschooling
because it was the norm.
And yes, our forefathers of this great nation were homeschooled.
The modern day homeschool movement, as we now know it,
was brought about according to the Britannica,
by a man named John Holt.
John Holt was an educator, and he felt that the bulk of learning
should take place outside of the classroom.
He was a huge critic of public education back in the 1970s and 80s.
He even penned two books:
“How Children Fail” in 1964 and “How Children Learn” in 1967.
And though he started a pretty good movement
and there were lots of people that agreed with him,
by and large, the general public said, “Thanks, but no thanks,”
and homeschooling was subdued to the background.
Fast forward to today, and the coronavirus pandemic of 2020
has seen a meteoric rise in the number of families
who are choosing to homeschool.
Some estimates say 5 to 6 million families have recently decided to homeschool.
Basically, homeschooling isn’t going anywhere.
And so I say, it’s high time we normalize homeschooling.
My journey as a homeschool parent began long before the pandemic.
It started back in the mid 2000s
during my journey as a public school teacher,
a special education teacher, to be exact.
As a special education teacher,
it was my job to follow and implement individualized education plans,
better known as IEPs.
These plans did just what their name suggests:
They were tailored to each child’s learning disabilities
or, as I like to say, learning abilities.
because every child has the ability to learn,
they just each learn differently,
and a myriad of other factors were factored in by the education team.
Doing this job over the years got the wheels in my head spinning.
I thought, “Why aren’t all children educated in this manner?
After all, no two children are alike. Everyone learns differently.”
Then, reality set in,
and I knew, as wonderful as that sounds,
it's just not possible to have individualized education plans
for 25 to 30 students.
But I decided right then and there
that I would have individualized education plans for my children.
When the time came, I was going to be a homeschool parent.
In 2016, I gave birth to my first child, a beautiful son,
and I made good on my promise.
As he grew, I didn’t put him in preschool or daycare.
I homeschooled him, and even as a baby, he was so smart.
Many people complimented me on this ... at first,
But then, as he got closer and closer to kindergarten age, the comments started:
“Oh, my goodness. He’s so smart.
He’s going to be so smart when he goes off to school!
Now, you are going to send him off to school, right?
You’re not going to continue homeschooling?”
And yes, I would have to reiterate my decision to homeschool my child.
Many homeschool parents have had similar conversations with friends, relatives,
heck, even total strangers.
It starts off, “Oh, you’re homeschooling. I could never do that.
I couldn’t afford to homeschool.”
Or “I knew a cousin’s friend’s neighbor’s son who homeschooled -
that kid was so weird.”
And every homeschooling parent’s least favorite comment,
“You’re homeschooling? But what about socialization?”
(Exhales)
Let’s explore each of these responses, shall we?
First, homeschooling is actually not as expensive as you may think.
According to the National Home Education Research Institute,
on average, homeschooling families spend about $600 per student to homeschool.
When you compare that to the $12,000 and more
that public schools spend per pupil to educate,
that’s a really huge difference.
And homeschooling is not something
that’s just for wealthy conservative families.
People of various socioeconomic backgrounds -
low, middle, and high income families - can and do homeschool.
And with regards to knowing a weird child that was homeschooled,
I can tell you, as a public school teacher,
I saw plenty of kids who could be categorized as “weird.”
Weirdness has nothing to do with the method of schooling a child received.
A whole lot of factors can play in: the child’s personality,
who they hang around, the music they listen to -
a whole lot of factors.
How would you like it if you were constantly ridiculed
and people commenting on how weird your child was going to be
because of your decision to send them to public school?
I don’t think you’d like it very much.
Lastly, the socialization.
Homeschooling kids, believe it or not,
are actually some of the most well-mannered,
respectable kids you'll ever come across,
and they have plenty of opportunities to socialize.
They socialize in their community, at the library, at the post office,
with people in their local grocery store,
and yes, with peers.
There are lots of homeschool co-ops out there.
Parents get their kids involved in park districts and sports in their communities.
And because their socialization is done
under the loving direction of their parents,
homeschool children are much more likely
to experience positive socialization than negative,
such as bullying that goes on in public schools.
In short, as the number of homeschooling families continues to rise,
the likelihood that you're going to run into a friend or co-worker or neighbor
or family member who’s a homeschooling parent is very high.
So when, not if, you come across a homeschooling parent,
instead of offering judgment, criticism, or unwarranted parental advice,
try offering encouragement or support.
If you cannot manage encouragement or support, no worries.
We, the homeschooling community, will gladly accept your silence.
Keep in mind that just as your decisions regarding your child’s education
weren’t made lightly, neither were ours.
Again, homeschooling is not new; it’s been around for centuries.
It’s parenting.
We’ve always been our children’s first teacher,
and homeschooling is no different.
It's here to stay, so you might as well get used to it.