We have been officially homeschooling since September 2004. We are now teaching a P3, a P1, a K1 and a N2. While we ourselves are convinced and convicted that this is our path to walk in, it is not in our practice to hard sell homeschooling.
Why? No, it is not because we are better/holier than non-homeschoolers or are we on to something good that we don’t want the rest of you to have or know. It is simple – going against the crowd is hard. Being a minority is hard. Knowing that what you are doing has NO support from your family is hard.
So, when mothers come up to me and tell me that they are keen to homeschool, I probably sound like a wet blanket coz instead of smiling broadly, I often ask them WHY? And then the next question that follows would be “What are your goals for your child/ren?”
Please do not homeschool just because everyone around you is doing it. Or that it sounds like a wonderful, and noble idea. Or even if it is because your child is picking up behaviours that you didn’t like.
There will be days when the going gets tough – everyone has those days, public schooled or homeschooled. But when you are homeschooling and the going gets tough, the 1st thought that crosses your mind will be “Let’s put him back in school!”
So if you are homeschooling for the wrong reasons, the tough days will be very daunting and you will give up. Actually, even when you are homeschooling for the right reasons, the tough days ARE very daunting and you also want to give up! But at least you know WHY you are homeschooling and you will plod on. You will hang on to your call to homeschool your child/ren.
Oh! And especially if your dh is not convinced, please do not homeschool! The pressure on you to MAKE SURE homeschooling succeeds will be too great a burden to bear alone.
And being wishy washy about the whole thing will also leave a negative impression on your children. Whether you wish to homeschool them from the start or if you need to pull them out of school, please do make these decisions prayerfully.
Remember, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5