Today I was at the park with another mom and we were discussing how difficult it was for her to find a good school for her 5 year old son to attend. She told me that she envied the fact that we are homeschooling and wishes she were able to do it herself. Which is something that I`ve heard quite a bit recently! Parents often think they aren`t qualified to teach their children and they have a lot of reasons why it wouldn`t work out. Let`s take a look at some of those reasons that might be popping up for you.
“I wouldn`t be able to stimulate my child enough.”
In my opinion, kids stimulate themselves plenty if you give them the right tools. And by the right tools, I`m not talking about fancy toys and video games. Kids learn best from things that make them really think. Blocks, Legos, and gardening tools are ideal for children and they will happily set about discovering things all on their own.
“I don`t have the patience to sit down and work through a schoolbook.”
Well, maybe your child doesn`t either. If you aren`t patient enough to sit down and explain numbers and work through readers, then don`t. There is no one way to teach your children and chances are you can find some better ways to learn that appeal to both of you. Take a look at unschooling, unit studies or figure out how to turn arts and crafts into learning time.
“I didn`t go to/finish college!”
You don`t have to be a professional teacher in order to share the gift of learning with your children. When they are young, you`ll easily be able to cover the material necessary and as they get older and start asking things you don`t know or understand, use it as a learning activity. Say, “I don`t know the answer to that, but why don`t we look it up together?” Teach your children to LEARN rather than to MEMORIZE and you`re giving them a skill that will last forever.
“My kids need socialization.”
Sure, they do. But is a school the best place for it? Consider that you`re going to be sending your kids into a place where you don`t have a clue who they`ll be in contact with on a daily basis. Some might argue that this is a real life situation . . . I prefer to know who my kids are going to be influenced by, at least while they are still fairly young. Give them a good base to build on and they`ll choose the right friends later on.
What reasons have you heard for not homeschooling?
Tags: homeschooling, reason, school, unschool