Did you always plan to home school, or have you been thrown into the home educating lifestyle because of recent life events? Plans are ever changing. In today’s world, with the threat of school violence and the onset of the coronavirus, many parents have found themselves plunged into the world of home schooling. They feel ill prepared and overwhelmed at the thought of teaching their own children. After all, they don’t have a degree in education. Maybe they’re not good in math. Or perhaps they lack the patience required to deal with their children 24/7. Regardless of your reasons to bring your child home, I’m here to tell you, YOU CAN HOME SCHOOL!
You Can Home School
With the Resources Available
Home schooling today is easier than it’s ever been. There are free online resources for just about anything you need to teach. You can purchase textbooks, teacher’s books, lesson plans, and solutions manuals for every subject. If you don’t feel equipped to teach, you can enroll your child in online or video schools for all or part of their course work.
You Can Home School
With the Support Available
When I began home schooling 35 years ago, resources were very limited. I knew of three curriculum vendors that would sell their products to parents teaching their children at home. There were very few home school conventions or support groups and only a handful of books on the subject. I was basically on my own. Today, there are home schooling blogs, books, support groups, co-ops, conventions, magazines, and more. With so much support at your disposal, it is difficult to fail.
You Can Home School
Despite Your Insecurities
At the beginning of my home-schooling journey, I can remember being stressed about what and how to teach. Even though I had taught piano lessons, Sunday School classes, children’s choir, missions’ classes, and Ladies’ Bible studies for years, I was still worried that I might not be able to teach my children everything they needed to know. Would I leave “holes” in my children’s education? Would they be equipped for life in the “real world”? As each year passed, I realized more and more that God was faithful to equip me to do what was necessary to meet the educational needs of my children. When asked if they thought there were “holes” in their education, one son responded, “No. You taught us how to learn – so if there are any holes – we know how to fill them!”
It took several years, but I finally understood that my success in home-schooling wasn’t dependent upon my abilities, but on God’s grace. When things got rough, I clung to the promise that His mercies are new every morning. (Lam. 3:22-23) My home-schooling life verse became “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” (1 Thess 5:24) Once I stopped depending upon my abilities, and began to totally rely on God’s strength, the journey got easier.
You Can Home School
In the Face of Opposition
In addition to my own doubts and insecurities, I had to face those who challenged our decision to keep our children at home. Well-meaning relatives warned of the dangers of keeping our children isolated from the world. They wondered how we could possibly teach all subjects when we didn’t have a degree to prove we were capable. They feared that our children would not get a good education. Most of all, they wondered how the lack of socialization would affect our children’s ability to function in society as they grew older.
Rather than allowing the naysayers to discourage us, we kept our eyes on the Lord and trusted Him to direct our steps. These were our children, and we were responsible to seek God’s will – not man’s. We decided to keep pressing on and to trust God with the outcome. We weren’t disappointed!
You Can Home School
With Success!
Now that most of our children are grown and out in the world, I have seen that my worries and insecurities were ungrounded. I have also watched as those opposed to our decision have become strong advocates of home education. As our children walk through their school years, graduate from high school, launch their own businesses, get full-paid scholarships to college, marry, and start their own families, we can all see that the decision to home school was a good one. Their ability to interact with people from every age group and socio-economic level, prove that the socialization skills afforded by home schooling were more than adequate to carry them through as they entered the “real world.” Rather than hindering them home-schooling equipped my children for life. If I did it, so can you!
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Other posts you might enjoy:
- 5 Reasons to Homeschool
- The Drawing Textbook: A Review
- Hitting the Target – Pointing Your Children to God
Coming Soon:
- Teaching Preschoolers Basic Skills
- Tips and Tools for Teaching Math
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