Truth is not popular. Have you noticed? Have you stopped to consider this? Truth and crowds rarely go hand in hand. That’s why we talk about “mob mentality.”
The vast majority of people think a certain way and do not search any further. They choose willful ignorance regarding religion, money, how to have a happy marriage, how to raise successful children, whatever that means and so on. It was good enough for their parents and it’s good enough for them. Why rock the boat?
So let us think about homeschooling. By choosing to homeschool, a family already puts themselves in the non-crowd zone. I understand some people would love to homeschool but they cannot afford it. I am not discussing those people. I also understand that many people decide to homeschool after they get married and have children (I fall in that category), but then their spouse has 0 interest in this route. Thankfully for me, my husband is flexible enough in his approach to life, he gave homeschooling a chance. Now, you would not be able to change his mind back to public school. He has tasted homeschooling for two years with our kids and sees the results. You will not be able to find a bigger homeschool advocate than my husband.
So I get that there are people whose circumstances are difficult. They would like to homeschool, but they cannot afford it or they do not have enough emotional support on the home front etc. Then, there are the people who absolutely can’t think of themselves as teachers. They say things like, I am an engineer. I am a marketing person. I am a baker. What do I know about teaching? I understand lack of self-confidence in the teaching arena. After all, we are all trained to think of teachers as people who can teach one or maybe two subjects at the most. That’s what we experienced in school, right?
It is so refreshing for me to meet homeschooling moms who were homeschooled themselves. They loved it so much, they are now homeschooling their own children. So encouraging.
Don’t you sometimes get the sinking feeling that maybe, just maybe, your kids might be missing out on something? That one day they will resent you for keeping them away from a school setting, where they could have a “normal” upbringing? Don’t be afraid. As long as you do not abuse them, and as long as you smile and have fun with them, they will thank you for homeschooling them. They will be different people because you did not allow them the join the crowd.
They will think more independently, more outside-the-box than their public school peers. They will have more self-confidence because they have been filled by their mom’s love and attention. And let’s not forget dad’s attention, either. As the principal of a homeschool, a father gets to tackle some tough issues with his children, discuss attitudes and behaviors which otherwise would be left to be discussed between your child and a stranger called “Principal” in a public school.
Truth and crowds do not go hand in hand and there’s a reason for that. Trust liberates. Most people are sheep. They want a leader. Freedom scares them. They want to be told what to do, how to do it, when to do it. Why? Because they were also educated in a crowd, told what to do, when to turn the page, how many times to copy a passage and so forth. And the cycle repeats itself. Don’t join the cycle. I know things can get tough in homeschooling. On those rough days, drop everything you are doing and head outside. Play. Make a craft cornucopia or whatever. Count your blessings. Re-connect with your children. Then keep calm and homeschool.
I do wonder why some adults that were homeschooled think of homeschooling as the best experience and some think of it as an absolutely terrible thing. My husband is in the previous category, but I’ve met my share in the latter category. I try to study those families and figure out what the situation was that gave their children so much resentment for being homeschooled. I don’t completely have the answer, except to say that I think the resentment develops during the teen years. So I am praying hard now that I have a teen and will have another in a few months, that I can keep them happy with the path that I have chosen for them.
So true. Thank you for the encouragement to continue homeschooling! It really is surprisingly rewarding once one chooses with courage to do it!