Can Failing Families Homeschool? | Homeschool Qualifications

When I started homeschooling, everyone thought I would fail, including me. It was rare to be able to walk thru my house. It was such a mess! And my kids tended to look like this little girl most of the time. I couldn’t discipline myself, much less my children.

5 years into this adventure, we had some teachers come and paint our windows. I was working nights at the time and the kids were pretty much on their own. These teachers were absolutely amazed at how well behaved my kids were while I slept. They would work on their assignments and chores and play quietly as I slept.

Turned out that homeschooling (with a hefty dose of prayer) taught me about self-discipline and delegation. It didn’t happen right away, but it was key to lifting me and my kids out of the mess I was in.

In the beginning, I couldn’t add 2 + 2 without a calculator. By taking on the responsibility of homeschooling, I grew and learned right along with my children. My older 2 children went to the local high school and the math teacher was so impressed with their math skills that he tells people I must have been a math major in college. There were others at the school that said my children were the most responsible and well-socialized children in the entire school district.

For 9 years out of the first 11, I worked 50 to 60 hours at jobs outside my home. My kids still did fine.
Today, all 3 of my children are successful young adults in their chosen career fields. I even wound up teaching several other people’s children because mine did so well.

One thing to consider is society’s definition of successful. My youngest son loved farming. We knew this as soon as he could get his hands on a toy tractor. Throughout his early school years, everyone was telling me I needed to put him in school because he wasn’t learning to read. I refused because I knew school would crush his spirit just like it did his dad’s. When he got to be around 12, he started taking an interest in academic subjects, because he saw that he would need them to farm successfully. He has moved from farming into trucking now, but the skills he learned farming serve him well! While he will probably never read for fun or take an interest in trigonometry, he is proficient enough in the 3 R’s to do his job well.

If parents aren’t geared toward academics, their kids probably aren’t either. The only things my husband was ever interested in doing were farming and truck driving. He wasn’t too interested in academics either.  There are lots of things one can be successful at. We weren’t all made to read Shakespeare or do scientific research. Don’t worry about a family that doesn’t meet the cultural definition of success. They will probably rise to the challenge and do just fine for who they are. Be very careful about judging a family who doesn’t seem to have “what it takes” to homeschool. They just might surprise you!

God Bless You All!

~ Grama Sue