3 Things Every Homeschooler Needs to Know

 

There are 3 things I want you to know about homeschooling.

 #1 It doesn’t have to be a full-time job.

#2 It doesn’t have to take a ton of money.

#3 It doesn’t take a whole lot of brains or any special training.

 

Most of us have grown up in the traditional school system and as a result, we think that education takes 6-9 hours a day, costs huge amounts, and requires a master’s degree. I mean, after all, that’s what we’ve always experienced so it has to be so. Right? Well, the truth is that every story sounds true until you hear the other side and most of us have never heard the other side.

 

Here’s the other side:

I homeschooled all 3 of my kids with a budget of around $50/ year while I worked full-time outside the home and the highest degree I hold is an AA. On top of all that, for the first several years I homeschooled I was very sick with an underdiagnosed illness. Many people in my community thought I was crazy and pitied my kids because of my “foolish” decision not to send them to school, but when my oldest 2 decided to return to public school so they could participate in high school activities, many people came to me asking if I could help them by taking their kids full-time or tutoring because of how well my kids turned out. My kids are all successful adults in their chosen fields. If I could do it, anyone can!

Homeschooling doesn’t take anywhere near as many hours simply because you aren’t dealing with a class of 15 – 30 students. Most homeschooled kids get done with all of their work within 1-3 hours and most homeschool teachers are able to accomplish other tasks like cooking and laundry while listening to their children read or overseeing their math. Do you help your kids with their homework? Between that and the time you spend getting them ready for school and participating in school activities like fundraisers and parties, you are probably already spending as much or more time as your homeschool counterparts. Over the 30 + years that I have homeschooled, I have developed a system that lets you and your child develop a very individualized curriculum that once they are reading only takes 15 minutes a day per child of your time and it doesn’t have to cost much either! It’s online for free and I would be happy to share it with you.

The average budget per student at public schools is currently above $10,000/yr, but homeschoolers only spend an average of $500/student/year and many whittle that down to little or nothing by using the internet and libraries. There are so many resources available! In fact, most homeschoolers find themselves a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of choices!

Most people think that education is an incredibly complicated process that takes a great deal of expertise. Kids are hardwired to learn but the structure of our traditional school system tends to dampen or even kill a child’s natural curiosity.

As for credentials, the truth is that much of a certified teacher’s training is in classroom management - something a homeschooler doesn’t need. What a homeschooler does need is a desire to help their child learn what that child needs or wants to know. You don’t have to be an expert on anything. Most of us learn right along with our children and if we do a good job, our children will take off and learn about things we don’t even have a clue about. Just a few  examples:

#1 When we started homeschooling, I could barely add 2+2 without a calculator. My oldest son loved math and passed me up quickly. In 6^th grade, he got hold of an algebra book and worked through it pretty much all by himself. If I ever have a math question, I go to him for answers! He spent 20 years in the Marines as a combat engineer and teacher and he currently supervises a construction crew and has a budding 3D printing company.

Actually, both of my kids who went to high school did so well in math that their math teacher swears I must be a math major. Truth be told, I flunked out of math when I was in high school. 

#2 I can sew a button and do a sloppy job of patching jeans, but that’s the extent of my sewing abilities. My daughter took an interest in sewing and before she reached her teens, she was able to lay out some newspaper on the floor, create a pattern and design her own original clothing. She currently runs a successful home-based business featuring children’s clothing and toys that she sews.

#3 And the youngest, he was into farming and driving big trucks and tractors. I can garden, but that’s the extent of my farming ability and honestly, I hate driving even a pick-up truck. It’s just too big! His dad was able to help him with a lot of what he needed to know, but even his dad is amazed at how well he can back a trailer. He drives a truck right now and has plans to start his own trucking company in the next 5 years.

 Homeschooling is hard, but so is parenting. The first year or two will be frustrating as you learn how your child learns and make the adjustments to help them learn what they need and want to know, but after a while, you will probably be like I was. Every now and then I would wonder why I was trying to homeschool and work full-time, but then I would look at my friends who had kids who were doing well in school and I’d realize that what I was doing was actually easier.

You can do this!