Something You Should Always Mark As Absent
Roll Call!
Fun... Here!
Learning... Present!
Others' Opinions... Absent!
The decision to homeschool your children is, in and of itself, one that can weigh heavily on your mind and is one not made lightly. At some point within the decision making stage, or in later years of homeschooling down the road, you can so often find a cloud of doubt looming.
Am I making the right choice?
Is this what is in their best interest?
The questions can pile up, and it may bring comfort to some to know that these questions are asked by even the most seasoned homeschool parent.
What many outsiders don't realize though, is just how seriously we consider and reconsider our commitment to teach our own children. That this idea wasn't cooked up overnight and determined spontaneously, but rather a well researched and evaluated dedication made to educate at home.
Taking Attendance
Beginning our homeschool journey came in a round-about way. I had considered it for years before it actually came to be, and once I was blessed with the resolution to, I soon realized I had more than just my own eyes on my paper.
As I was taking attendance on what I envisioned our homeschool to be, and fleshing out what our curriculum was going to consist of, what I consistently found present were
others' opinions.
Not in the sense I wanted to please others, but in the way of the opinions that showed up even when not called upon.
It would begin from the repeated questioning of :
Are you affiliated with the school or a formal teacher :
Answer: No
to
Are you teaching them proper pencil grip ?
Answer: Perhaps? They're holding a pencil and writing.
and
Do you have them take standardized tests?
Answer: No
along with
How do you know if you are teaching them right?
Answer: I did my research.
and even
Are they reading?
Answer: Yes, it's a fundamental...
It just keep flooding in.
Our homeschool seats began being filled by unsolicited questions, opinions, comparisons, and advise, that I was largely able to dismiss. Being in our first year at the time though, what did seem to linger, was that with each comment or investigative question, I felt a piece of my confidence shaken,
... and I didn't like it.
Whether it was simply curiosity or otherwise on their part, there was always an underlying level of patronizing- as if they didn't trust me to educate my own children properly or responsibly.
I believe that all a homeschool parent needs to hear is encouragement.
Sowing seeds for self doubt or passing judgement is stealing their joy, and I wasn't going to keep an open seat for it in our home.
The most valuable lesson in our first year of homeschool wasn't mastering every sight word, or learning how to count to 100; it was in keeping our classroom door closed to the opinions of what others believed our learning, or the progress in our learning, should look like.
I knew if I was going to create the type of learning environment I desired for my kids, and cultivate the love for learning I wanted to instill, it started with preserving my own confidence.
My hope is that all homeschool parents, new or old, can take away from this that while support and encouragement are welcomed in homeschool,
mark
Others' Opinions... Truant!
It's something your homeschool won't miss.
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