A very small number of people have ‘always known’ they would homeschool. The rest of us had to think long and hard about it. And yet, at its most basic, the decision to homeschool can be pretty straightforward.
I’ve written before about the overwhelming number of choices available to educate your child. If you’ve waded through that whole swamp of possibilities and are taking a closer look at homeschooling, here’s your next step.
Break things down with these two very basic questions:
- Can you homeschool?
- Should you homeschool?
Can You Homeschool?
You might wonder if you’re ‘qualified’ to homeschool – if you have the necessary skills to teach your own children. The short answer is yes. The longer answer is yes and you need to be willing to learn or re-learn the things you don’t know or can’t remember.
Does this mean you need to learn or relearn everything, even calculus? Nope. There are plenty of resources and curriculum to supplement you. But almost everyone needs to be willing to stretch themselves a little academically.
Perhaps more important is whether you have the desire to be with your children a LOT. We know you love them, but you need to like being around them too. If your answer is something like ‘pretty much mostly yes’, then you’re good. No one expects you to be perfect.
Should You Homeschool?
To answer this question, you need to define your ‘why’. Why do you want to homeschool? There is no right answer. You may have one compelling reason or a mix of several.
You might be looking for the freedom for your child to learn at their own pace, to focus on what engages them, or to travel while homeschooling. You may seek homeschooling based on your beliefs, the fact that you have a child with special needs, or because your local public school system doesn’t measure up.
Once you determine your ‘why’, take a long hard look at it. It needs to be compelling enough to sustain you more than a few months. You want to establish a sense of purpose and direction based on your ‘why’ that’s sustainable for the long haul. Look at your values that will keep you on track and moving along the homeschool path you want to pursue.
A book that I found helpful early on was The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families. It’s not centered around homeschooling, but the principles can easily be adapted to looking at your homeschool vision. In this book, Stephen Covey encourages families to develop a mission statement. Even if you don’t organize family meetings to define a formal mission, I think considering the points in this book can help you define your ‘why’.
Other Helpful Elements
“I don’t know,” you say. “Could you just tell me that I’m an amazing parent and you think I’ll be great at homeschooling?”
Yeah, that’s sort of what I wanted someone to tell me when we were first thinking about homeschooling. I remember seeing some lists that detailed what different authors thought were ‘requirements’ for the successful homeschool parent. Somewhere I read that one necessary quality was self-confidence. That had me a little worried. 🙂
Over time though I’ve come to realize that no parent, whether they homeschool or not, is confident they’re always doing it right. At least, nobody I know. But okay, some confidence in your decisions is good. And I’ve discovered that I have more confidence than I once thought. Other items that I think are helpful are:
- A bit of a maverick spirit. The desire to choose a different path and be comfortable with it.
- Perseverance. The ability to see things through when your homeschool world is occasionally less than wonderful.
- Financial Stability. You don’t need gobs of money, just the ability to survive without a second income. I homeschool very inexpensively, although you can certainly spend tons of money on curriculum. Note: Some homeschool parents do successfully hold a part-time job and there are even some with full-time jobs.
The Bare Bones
You can figure out all the other stuff – state requirements, curriculum, helping your kids learn stuff that’s hard for you (math, grammar, etc.), social groups, sports, and all the rest as you go along. That ‘stuff’ can be challenging itself, but it’s a lot easier to tackle if you have an underlying sense of purpose.
A little bit of confidence, a pioneering attitude, determination, and some financial stability. Those are the bare bones of what you need.
I promise that you can homeschool if you want to. Revisit your ‘why’ to help decide whether you should homeschool. Is your ‘why’ compelling? It doesn’t need to be compelling for anyone else. Just you and your family.
Your ‘why’ – your one or more reasons to homeschool – is what will drive your success. You may change or modify those reasons as you go along but setting up your initial mission statement, no matter how formal or informal you make it, will make the decision to homeschool or not straightforward.
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