I homeschool…but there’s a part of me that hates to admit it. I hate to admit it not because I’m ashamed but because a lot of people automatically put me in a box. And often the box is marked “weird.”
The bottom line is, parents are responsible for educating their children. Schools are not responsible, teachers are not responsible, the government is not responsible, WE ARE. The vast majority of the stuff our children learn, they learn from us, usually at home. So in that way, if you’re a parent, you’re a homeschooler. That’s right, I just called you weird.
Now that we got that straight…
All parents have a choice. As the responsible parties of the education of our children, we have to decide how we’re going to make sure our children learn what they need to learn. Some of us take a more hands-on approach at home and some of us utilize the resources of a public or private school. I’ve personally done both. I think there are pros and cons to each as long as the parent maintains the responsibility. Problems arise when parents hand off the responsibility to another party (public school, private school, or even the child himself/herself) because they feel overwhelmed, unqualified or just plain lazy.
So how does one maintain responsibility without handing it off? For those of us who are responsible homeschoolers, this isn’t the question. Our challenge does not lie in taking responsibility, our challenge lies in not taking complete control. (That’s another post.)
For those of us with children in public or private school, we’d better understand that we are still responsible for our children’s education regardless of the fact that we’ve allowed someone else to teach them particular aspects of it. We have to keep tabs, to make thoughtful & prayerful decisions about who we are allowing to teach them, to know what they’re getting and what they’re not, to understand who they are and how they learn best and to make changes to the scenario whenever we think they would be best served elsewhere.
Maybe you’re aware or maybe you’re not aware that there are some potential “changes” on the horizon that have huge ramifications for the education of our children and our ability (or lack thereof) to maintain our responsibility. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, may I suggest checking out Spunky, particularly here, here and here for some good stuff to chew on. )
Maybe it’s time we all got a little more weird.
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Hi there. I'm Amy. I write here about my life and my issues. I also design blogs and websites at 
More power to you for homeschooling and doing so proudly! Even though I am the Editor for Homeschool Bliss, I don’t know if I will homeschool or not (my oldest is 1yo). But I agree with you 100% – it is MY responsibility to educate my children. Whether I ’send’ them to school or do it at home myself, the buck stops with me.
Education begins and ends at home regardless of what happens in between.
And I believe that each child and family is different – there is no perfect education formula for all children. It is the parents job to understand what is best for their children and family.
That is NOT weird; that is parenting.
Ali’s last blog post..Practically Green Vlog: Compost
I home schooled for two years and loved it! The time came that it was best to put them in school and we are blessed with a fantastic private christian school. My boys are blossoming. However, they may return home once in 9th grade because the school only goes through 8th. Given that they are in 3rd and 4th grades, my heart clinches to think what it will be like in public school by then. Again, we are blessed with a large number of home schooling families in our church and community. My prayers continue….
Not a parent but I am a teacher and I love your attitude. If only all parents could understand that it is their responsibility because it is true that they hand it off to us, the educator.
Indira’s last blog post..Gotta Love This
Thanks for dropping by my blog and shedding some light on my homeschooling rant for this week. LOL! And — why is it that we are considered “weird” for homeschooling? Doesn’t it just drive you bonkers? Oh well…the trend is catching on…slowly but surely.
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