I Want You to Homeschool My Child!

by Andrea Hermitt | More from this Blogger

22 Jan 2007 12:06 PM

Several parents have come to me and asked me to homeschool their child. While it is a great validation of what they perceive to be my homeschooling abilities, it is not something I will do. Still, I cannot help but be happy that I was asked (and by teachers and school administrators too!)

The reasons I will not homeschool someone else's child:

Homeschooling is about relationship: For me, the biggest and most rewarding part about homeschooling is the relationship between parent and child. The parent has to know the child well, and the child know the parent. Moods must be apparent. Personalities must be in sync. Love and adoration must be mutual. I am not saying that a non-parent adult cannot cultivate a relationship with another person's child. I have a friend whose nanny from birth homeschools her child. These relationships just take time and effort that I am not willing to take away from my own children.

Homeschooling is spontaneous: When homeschooling, we might decide to take a library run, or spend the day at a museum without a moments notice. Try that with someone else's child and legal problems may result. I can't imagine using permission slips and rigid schedules that would be necessary in my homeschool.

The nature of my home school would have to change: As you can see from my previous examples, homeschooling someone elses child would change the nature of my homeschool and turn my home into a small private school. I am not a school administrator. I am not even a teacher. I am hardly qualified. I am a mom who teaches her own.

So these are the reasons I have repeatedly refused to be a homeschool teacher, outside homeschooling my own children. I have offered to be a guide, however, holding the hand of the parent through the process of choosing curriculum, and even working with the child when necessary. I have been turned down however, as the parents that have asked work full time. They really wanted someone to follow the same schedule as the kids would have were they in school.

*Have a question about homeschooling? Just ask.

*Want to know more about homeschooling? Start here!

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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Karen Edmisten (310) 22 Jan 2007 11:17 AM

Excellent post! I agree completely, and you named all the same reasons I've thought about.