Many parents are choosing to homeschool today because of the inappropriate content being taught in public schools. They are also frustrated with the substandard education children have been receiving for too long.
However, while it’s critical to keep your children out of an institution notorious for the poor character and education standards it maintains, there are a few questions to ask yourself before you begin to homeschool.
Know Your Why
If we don’t fully understand why we are doing something, our chances of following through in the most effective way are compromised.
For example, if you tell someone not to eat extra protein while he is trying to build muscle but you don't explain why, he'll be less likely to follow through. He also needs to know what foods contain the highest amounts of protein, so he can reach his goal.
Home education is no different.
You want to know why public school has failed as well as what kind of an education model does work. If you can answer the question to both of these accurately, then you will be 100% committed and able to give your child a stellar education at home.
John Taylor Gatto’s best selling book, Dumbing Us Down, is the best place to begin. It will expose the fundamental problems with school making an alternative option the obvious solution.
My Why
My biggest "why" for homeschooling was that I wanted my children to have integrity, and I recognized that this was something we lost in a system that teaches us conformity. After integrity, I wanted my kids to develop their minds to the fullest.
I knew enough of the history behind public school to be 100% determined to homeschool, rain or shine. Nothing would have induced me to put my kids into a system that I knew would fail them, as it had failed me.
If we don’t have a firm commitment to homeschooling, it’s very easy to fall back on public or even private schools during difficult times.
While fear is the best motivator, fear is not the best reason to homeschool. We want to resist falling prey to a fearful mindset and adopt a proactive mindset moving forward.
We want to become someone who is determined to give their child a better education at home no matter what difficulties we might encounter.
Which begs the question, what kind of an education is the best?
2. What Education Model Should You Choose?
You will come across a lot of different homeschooling models, and it will be difficult to know which is best. Unfortunately, we now face the problem of too many blind leading the blind in the homeschooling community, so deciding who to take advice from may be a challenge.
But since you're here, I’m going to encourage you to follow a traditional approach to education because we know it works. Our safest bet is to choose that which is know to train the mind most effectively and this leads us directly to the classics.
In America, the liberal arts education, which is often referred to as a classical education, is what our children were taught when our literacy rates peaked during the 19th century.
Today, we have reached such a low point in our academic history with 54% of Americans reading above a fifth grade level. An educated guess is that a fifth grade level today was probably the equivalent of a second grade level in 1900.
For example, a third grade test in the 19th Century included questions, such as:
Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.
Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.
Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
The Classics
The classics have produced some of the greatest minds in Western history including Cicero, who was considered one of Rome’s greatest rhetoricians; and Thomas Aquinas, who debated with the Catholic Church for ten years, finally convincing it that the study of Aristotelean logic was not a threat to the religion.
“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
Let’s not forget the words of Martin Luther King, who said that we should judge a man by the content of his character, not the color of his skin.
If you are going to put your time and energy into homeschooling, why not give your children the best possible training of the mind?
If you are worried that your own mind is not well-trained, don't be. You will learn alongside your children and do the best job you can. If you dedicate yourself to the task, you are capable of giving your children anr education superior to that of any public school and most private schools.
Seneca the Younger said that “By teaching, we learn.” This is the attitude to adopt when you reach for the homeschooling stars!
3. How Do I Help My Child Develop Good Character?
Raising a child with good character has always been considered the most important component of raising a child. “Education" goes under the rubric of “raising a child,” it does not stand above it.
You will find a lot of workbooks with exercises regarding character, or you will be advised to teach your children about their “feelings,” or you will come across books that teach lessons about good character, but this is not the way to raise a child up in the ways of good character.
Developing good character requires action, the right sort of action. Reading moral stories will supplement what children are learning in real life, but they cannot replace the action required to develop good character.
The truth is that most of us aren't taught how character develops anymore, so we can be confused on this point, yet it is the most fundamental aspect of raising a child.
The Ancients taught that a life well-lived was a moral life, and modern research has proven this is true, which is one of the reasons I don’t wait for the research. We spend billions of dollars trying to understand how to live well, when all we need is to go back to the classics.
Do you think after so many thousands of years, we have not yet figured these things out!
Homeschooling Is a Job
Homeschooling is not a job we take lightly. It is the education of our children. While I know any committed and willing parent can do a better job teaching their child at home, the tide in the homeschooling community is shifting.
A friend of mine, who worked in a co-op school, told me that the "homeschooled" kids they have been accepting lately we're all behind.
I attribute this to parents not taking the time to understand the very things I just pointed out as well as not adopting a proactive mindset towards homeschooling.
Too many of us keep our kids out of school for fear of negative influences without understanding the deeper problems with modern education; too many of us are using government and virtual programs without realizing that we're turning to the beast for help, and too many of us have no idea how to intentionally raise a child with good character.
We don't have to be an expert in each subject we teach, but we have to understand why we are homeschooling; what constitutes a good education, how character develops, and how to provide these things for our children.
Don’t miss our free download, Ten Books Every Well-Educated Child Should Read.
Teach your child to read before sending him to school! Learn more about Elizabeth's unique course, How to Teach Your Child to Read and Raise a Child Who Loves to Read.
For parents of children under age seven who would like to prepare their child for social and academic success, please begin with Elizabeth’s singular online course, Raise Your Child to Thrive in Life and Excel in Learning.
When you join the Smart Homeschooler Academy online course for parents, Elizabeth will make homeschooling manageable for you. She’ll guide you in helping your kids reach their intellectual potential and developing good character.
As a homeschooler, you will feel confident, calm, and motivated knowing you have the tools and support you need to homeschool successfully.
Elizabeth Y. Hanson is a homeschooling thought-leader and the founder of Smart Homeschooler.
As an Educator, Homeschool Emerita, Writer, and Love and Leadership Certified Parenting Coach, Elizabeth has 21+ years of experience working in education.
Developing a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, she devotes her time to helping parents get it right.
Elizabeth is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.
"I know Elizabeth Y. Hanson as a remarkably intelligent, highly sensitive woman with a moral nature and deep insight into differences between schooling and education. Elizabeth's mastery of current educational difficulties is a testimony to her comprehensive understanding of the competing worlds of schooling and education. She has a good heart and a good head. What more can I say?”
—John Taylor Gatto Distinguished educator, public speaker, and best-selling author of Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling
