Anyone Can Homeschool!

We heard it all the time.

People would find out that we homeschooled (or now, that we were homeschooled) and the response was something along the lines of, "i could never do that!" Which usually meant, "I don't have the patience for that." To which my mom would always say, "I don't either." 

I personally don't think the hang-up was actually patience but I'm not going to get into that today. This is not for the person who doesn't want to homeschool. Rather, it's for the person who doesn't think they can. I hope it encourages that person because I truly believe that...

Anyone Can Homeschool!

You might wonder that I'm talking about this when I've never homeschooled my kids. Namely because I don't have kids :) But I was a homeschool kid. I lived this. I watched my mom do it and my friends' moms and I have friends now who homeschool. I LOVE talking about it and encouraging people who are doing it or want to do it, to the point that I may go a little overboard at times :)

Here's the main thing - you are your child's first teacher. 

You are teaching them from the moment they are born. So every single parent is automatically a homeschooler. The wrinkle is that somehow we are convinced that we need something special once "school" starts. Yes, you do need some more structure and most people find it helpful to have a curriculum or a co-op to follow, but at the end of the day, you're doing the same thing you did when your kids were 2, and 3, and 4. 

If you talk to my mom about homeschooling she'll be the first to tell you that we know all kinds of things she never "taught" us. My brothers and my dad have all kinds of science and math conversations that leave my mom and I staring blankly at each other :) If you can teach your kids to be curious and how to learn things, they will teach themselves a lot. Helping them love to read is also a huge part of it! We always had our noses in books when we were kids. It got us in trouble sometimes actually!

I'm not a homeschool mom but I have worked with a lot of kids in my life. In that experience I can tell you that when your kids are young, it's so easy to homeschool! The kids I watch right now are 2 and 6 as of this blog post being written. The six year old is in school but I practice addition with him while we play Monopoly! And he likes to read the chapter headings in the books I read to them. The 2 year old, I will have her practice colors and numbers and letters with me while we play with her toys. 

Another thing my mom tells people who are new or considering homeschooling: "You only have to be one day ahead of your kids." Phylicia Masonheimer, a second-generation homeschooler says, "I don't plan for seasons I'm not in." Both of these should be encouragement that you don't have to know what you would do for physics and calculus to start homeschooling your kindergartner. You don't even have to know what you will do for first grade! New resources are available all the time, the needs of your family will change, your kids' learning styles might evolve! Don't be afraid to take on year at a time or to make changes. 

If someone pressed me and asked what someone would need to be a homeschooler I would say two things: a love for your kids and support. That's it! It's the same things you need to be a parent. As has been stated, I am not a parent but I know that it's hard. There were days that my mom threatened to send us to school (I'm pretty sure it was never a serious threat) because things were so hard. People homeschool because they love their kids and believe that it is what is best for them. (I want to be clear that I am NOT saying that people who send their kids to a school don't love their kids. I'm only saying the motivation behind homeschooling right now. There is no logical opposite being inferred.) And they need the support of their spouse, their parents, and community. I've known people who's parents were not supportive of their homeschooling their kids and it was hard. I've known people who wanted to homeschool but their spouse was not on board. That is one scenario where I would say you can't homeschool. It will not go well and it will probably harm your family. But in the end, there is not much that you "need" to start homeschooling. 

My mom loved homeschooling. We loved being homeschooled. The funny thing is that my dad actually wanted to homeschool and my mom was sure it wouldn't work. Since her childhood she wanted to be two things - a mom and a teacher. She got to be both but not in the way she imagined. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't change a thing :)

To close, I have a few tips from what we learned in our homeschooling journey and things I've picked up from observing other homeschoolers in my life:

• Everything is school. If school is learning, then life is school. Yes, we need dedicated time to study certain basic things, but you can learn fractions by baking and doing woodworking projects! Living life teaches you things and some are even more valuable than what you would learn from a textbook.
• Foster a love of reading. Virtually every kids I know who was forced to read in school grew up not liking to read. That's sad to me. When you homeschool, it allows for greater freedom in what you read, which means that kids can read within their interests more, creating an enjoyment of the process. If kids love to read, they will learn a lot on their own.
• Encourage curiosity. Tied into reading, you want to encourage a sense of curiosity. That will drive the kids to go discover answers on their own, helping them learn more than you could ever teach them!
• Do as much as you can together. There is not as much that is grade-specific as you might think. We did a lot of school together growing up. Sometimes something might be a little simple for me and a little bit advanced for my youngest brother, but it worked out okay. And for a lot of things, you could do the basic lesson but add some more for me as an older child. We did Bible, some history and geography, briefly Spanish, and probably some other things I"m forgetting at the moment. (Also, my brothers did a lot of school together because they preferred videos and doing things on the computer and I preferred writing and physical books.)
• Don't be afraid to make changes. My mom started using a structured curriculum and by the time my youngest brother graduated we were using all kinds of different things! I myself used two or three math curriculums before we found one that made some amount of sense to me! You won't ruin your kids by changing curriculum or stopping an activity or moving to a new co-op. 
• You don't have to do it all yourself. Speaking of co-ops... even though it's called "homeschooling", you don't have to be at home by yourself all day every day. In fact, most homeschoolers joke about how they don't have time to do their "school" because they're never home! There are so many co-ops where they offer classes on a variety of topics and with different commitment levels. There are lots of places that offer daytime options for homeschoolers (we did a homeschool roller skate for years). If there is a subject your kid is interested in or needs and you just don't think you can help them with it, odds are good there is someone or some program out there that can help them. Think of yourself as the guide. You find and provide what your child needs to learn and them help them go through it. 

I said that I can talk about this for hours and you can probably tell from this VERY long post :) I'm going to wrap it up here for now but I hope that this is encouraging to you if you're considering homeschooling or new to homeschooling. And if that's not you, then I hope you at least found this interesting!  I'd love to hear thoughts, comments, or even questions if you have them! 

Here is a great and encouraging post from Tricia Goyer especially for homeschool beginngers! 

(Does anyone know what movie quote I am parody-ing with my title of Anyone Can Homeschool?)