Homeschooling - To Be Or Not to Be?

Homeschooling your children can sometimes be a controversy among parents. Most parents believe that children do not have proper schooling, unless they are socialized every day with other children. Most parents believe that a mother or father is not capable of teaching their children at home, unless they have a teacher degree. Most parents believe that children do not get all the extra-curricular activities like sports, arts, and music, unless they are enrolled in a secular school. My husband and I believe that that is simply not true, and I will attempt to in the next few paragraphs to prove my point.

Our children have been both to secular school and also homeschooled, so I have learned from both sides of the coin. My husband and I based our decision to homeschool for five years on what we've seen on both sides.

First of all, children get socialization from adults as well as other children while homeschooling, and the wonderful part about that is you know who they are socializing with. When they are in secular school for six and a half hours or more a day away from your home, you have no idea what they are doing or saying and with whom. We have to "trust" the school system to monitor their actions, and with so many children, it's almost impossible to do a thorough job. With homeschooling, you have control of who your children get together with and befriend.

My children and I belong to a Christian homeschool group made up of about 20 families that also homeschool. We all believe in the same priorities for our children and want basically the same ideals for them. Schooling is not just about an education of academics, but also a character-building in our children. What is most important for my husband and I is that we help build strong character and good attitudes in our children by teaching mostly a love for others, good work ethics, and responsibility for their actions. Academics are also important, but don't take center stage. When the children are in secular school, the teachers do not have the time or the desire as a parent does to care about the character or attitude of the children.

Secondly, my husband and I believe that we do not need a teacher degree to school our children at home. There are so many opportunities with different curriculum to have the ability to school your children at home. These curricula basically walk a parent through day-to-day lessons in math, science, language, social studies, history, art, and even music. If you have a diploma from high school, you are simply learning everything all over again along with your child; and if your child is having trouble understanding a certain subject, then you can slow down and reinforce the information until it sinks in. However, in secular school, the teachers are forced to keep moving along whether the children understand what's being taught or not.

Furthermore, with homeschooling, your children are receiving one-on-one attention, rather than competing with 30 other children in a classroom. And I cannot tell you how many times my son would come home from school when he was in secular school complaining that he needed to ask questions about what they were learning that day, and he said the teacher didn't have time to answer them! How frustrating that was for him.

Also, our school days are not as long as the secular school. We typically start our school day around 8:00 a.m. the same as secular school, and if the day goes smoothly by the children understanding each subject allowing us to move on, our day ends around 2:00 p.m. with no homework except a little reading on their own. That's the beauty of homeschooling, and also my children's favorite part. In secular school, the children are there for six and a half hours a day, and then come home with extra work to do for about an hour or so, sometimes more. In my opinion, enough is enough.

Thirdly, our children do not lack in extra-curricular activities, even though they are not in a secular school system. As I mentioned earlier, we belong to a homeschool group with at least 40 other children, and we have soccer, basketball, baseball, tennis, and even co-ops for science, writing, music, and art. Yes, of course, not everyone belongs to a homeschool group, but for the encouragement and fellowship with other parents and children, I highly recommend it.

Our children can also learn from other parents what you as a parent lack in education. For example, science and history are not my best subjects, so the other parents that are more skilled in those subjects, through a co-op, actually teach my children how to understand and flourish in them. As a homeschool group, we all help each other to give our children the best education, not just academically, but in all aspects of their life.

In closing, if you are contemplating schooling your children at home, don't just take my word for it. Do the research online and find out about what other parents are using for curriculum, for activities, and for social groups. I guarantee we can make you a believer in homeschooling when you find out the benefits of it compared to what a secular school system can offer your children. It could mean the difference between a well-balanced, well-educated child compared to one that was just shuffled through school and left behind academically.

Rachel G. LaChapelle is the website administrator for Baby Strollers and also a stay-at-home mom for 14 years. Please visit her site for all sorts of discount baby items.