I Almost Didn't Homeschool Because I did not Understand My Options

by Andrea Hermitt | More from this Blogger

24 Mar 2008 06:11 AM

When people find out that I homeschool my kids, it is common for people to say to me "I could never homeschool". One reason or another always follows this statement. Many of these same reasons nearly kept me from homeschooling. This is the first of a series of articles explaining the reasons that I almost did not homeschool my children.

I almost didn't homeschool because I was under the impression that homeschooling meant I had to sit my kids at tables and teach them in the same way teachers had taught me. I didn't really see the point of taking them out of school only to do the same thing. I also didn't think my patience level (which I knew was short) would allow me to homeschool my kids in the way I envisioned it had to be done.

Fortunately, my curiosity got the best of me. During an especially difficult year for my kids in public school, I realize my options were getting slim. So I began asking different homeschooling families a lot of questions. Many of the answers I received told me that homeschooling was exactly what I expected. I was to purchase books and curriculum after figuring out which ones to purchase of course, and sit my kids at the table and teach them. While this method of homeschooling works very well for a great deal of homeschoolers, it scared me to death.

Then someone told me about unschooling. It was the exact opposite of what I thought homeschooling was. Still children seemed to learn and do very well when left to learn and discover on their own. I was certainly intrigued and very interested. Nevertheless, I was also scared of the idea of leaving my kids' education up to them.

Finally, after a couple of months of "interviewing" homeschoolers, someone said to me, "homeschooling does not have to mean sitting your kids around a table and teaching them everything on your own." She continued, "I spend more time driving my kids to classes and activities than I do actually teaching". Finally, I had learned about a happy medium that fit my personality and that I thought I could handle.

This was the point when I knew that homeschooling could work for us. It was at this point that I started investigating homeschooling as an option that could work for us. If you are contemplating homeschooling keep in mind there are many ways to homeschool and there is very likely an approach that will work for you.

Learn more about Andrea Hermitt

Andrea Hermitt is a native New Yorker currently residing in GA. She has been married for over 16 years and has two teenage children.

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