The Biggest Reason Not to Homeschool
It isn’t social needs. (We talked about that here.)
It isn’t budget. (We talked about that here.)
It’s this: parents aren’t teachers. Or, so critics would have us think.
Speaking as a parent, I can confidently say I have been teaching my children since moment one how to eat, walk, sleep, speak, explore, learn, create, love, help, work, and play—what more is there to life than that? The same can be true of any other loving parent. We know and love our children better than anyone, so who better to teach them?
How Versus What. That said, teaching traditional school subjects requires a different skill set (called “classroom management” in the biz), which is not beyond the reach of parents but also is not intuitive. Purchasing curriculum only provides the content—or, what to teach. In order to homeschool effectively, parents must learn how to teach.
Speaking as a former professional educator, I want to let you in on a little secret about teacher certification—none of us have all the right answers about our key subject areas. My English degree did not equip me with everything I need to know about grammar and literature as it pertains to educating high schoolers—I earned my Bachelor of Arts in English for studying the subject at a collegiate level. Similarly, my teacher certification did not teach me core English content either; it taught me classroom management. Content—or, what to teach—is determined by the school or district. In contrast, classroom management—or, how to teach—is considered fundamentally important within the education community.
Said differently, even the best curriculum at the greatest school would be mediocre if I did not know how to manage my class.
Curriculum is Secondary. This matters to parents considering homeschooling because so many assume that purchasing curriculum will enable them to teach; that is a false assumption.
Curriculum is only content. When parents open that beautiful box of brand new curriculum, there is no teacher inside.Yes, there is a teacher’s manual but that only helps break down the information, not manage the “class” itself. It does not help parents balance multiple ages at the same table. It does not help parents figure out how to create a workable schedule between grade levels, the household, and extracurriculars. It does not train parents to recognize their child’s learning strengths and work to them. It does not help parents spot or support special learning needs. And the list goes on.
What made me official as a teacher in the eyes of my state was, most importantly, my training and experience in classroom management.
You Don’t Need a Degree. The only thing parents need in order to homeschool well is to be taught how to teach. To be clear, I am not suggesting parents get a teaching degree in order to homeschool. Homeschoolers who have experience as former educators will assure you that the training for one does not prepare you for the other: a traditional classroom of 30 strangers versus homeschooling your own children are two completely different teaching models. Rather, parents need to seek out a course specific to homeschoolers that will teach them how to teach from home.
Parents do not need a college education to homeschool. I have known many parents without college diplomas who taught their children at home, and whose children went on to earn degrees far beyond their own. (This becomes possible as parents learn to manage the school day from home and outsource content as needed.) As our students progress from elementary into the higher grade levels, parents are often less directly responsible for the content and become more responsible in a supervisory role—providing their student with accountability, direction, and access to the right resources.
You Do Need Training. If the biggest reason parents shouldn’t homeschool is that they don’t know how to teach, that’s great news because it’s a problem easily solved.
And, to be frank, that is why Homeschool Expert: distilling decades of advice from experts across diverse fields within education as well as the experiences of successful homeschooling parents into a single resource that teaches parents from any background how to teach at home. With the right tools and training, homeschooling becomes more than doable—it becomes excellent.