Posted in Issues and Encounters

I strongly believe that homeschooling is a wonderful form of education - for parents.

There are so many things to be learned as one travels the homeschool path – things about your own character, your learning style, your teaching style, the holes in your previous education, your motives, even your religious beliefs and political views.

Recently, my husband informed me that we, as a couple, were viewed as “right-wing fundamentalist wackos” by some people, because of our beliefs and lifestyle choices. 

Funny the things you can learn about yourself from listening to others! 

But, after consideration – and some laughter – I realized that the path of parenting an only child is one less traveled.  Add homeschooling to the journey and it becomes an even less-populated trail. 

There are, of course, forces in our society that nudge, push, and at times actually shove us toward the highway of conformity.  Some of these are obvious, such as electronic and print media or large group activities.  Anonymity can be a positive thing at times and conformity helps. 

But there are other, less obvious, forces that can cause us to question what we do and how we do it. 

Consider the teller at the bank, who asks why your school-age child isn’t in school.  And then, because your only child is well behaved and things are quiet that day, proceeds to question how you homeschool, why, and when will you put the child into the system?

Or there’s the uncle at the family gathering who insists on asking “upper level” questions of your first grader.  Just to see “if the child is really learning anything in that homeschool of yours.”

Then there’s the pediatrician that pointedly asks your six-year-old child if she “likes being homeschooled?” as if the decision was up to the child. 

All of these encounters could be met with indifference and easily ignored.  But, quite often, they prey on our minds and cause us to question our homeschooling plans and methods. 

Yet, there are ways to use these encounters in order to learn and grow from our homeschooling experiences.

We can learn to trust our intuition.  Because, as parents, we spend so much quality time with our child, we know when programs are no longer working or when we need to find something more, or less, challenging.  I firmly believe that God is at work when that little voice inside keeps nudging us toward something different on behalf of our blessed little ones.

We can learn to be independent.  We can find an inner strength in knowing that what we’re doing is the best thing for our family. 

We can become teachers and mentors to others.  Because I’ve been put “on the spot” a few times about homeschooling our daughter, I’ve considered how to respond to “awkward” questions about socialization, testing, and reporting in a measured and calm fashion.  And because I’m confident about what we do as a homeschooling family, I’ve been positively influential in helping others make informed choices about homeschooling and their family. 

Like any other form of education, learning your role as parent, teacher, mentor, supporter, and friend in the homeschool world is a challenge.  We can choose to gladly read, research, and/or speak about our journey as willing participants in our own, and our child’s, educational growth. 

Or we can go quietly about our business and struggle to not to be influenced by the forces pushing us to conform.

Personally, I’ll take the negative comments along with everything else.  If what you’re doing makes people think, then you are probably doing something worthwhile. 

And others may grow a bit from their experience with you.