Resource Sample for Our Growing in Homeschool Confidence Parent Resource
To view a full sample of this course, click here.
Lesson 1
Introducing home schooling—the more excellent way
“When so many in our society act like attending public school is a rite of passage, he is telling people that there is a better way. He simply believes that home education is the best option for creating independent thinkers and nurturing their natural talents and interests” -said by Nancy Carter about John Taylor Gatto in an announcement of Old Schoolhouse Expo 2010.
Home “schooling” is not so much about schooling as about home educating your own children.
For many of us this alone implies a big paradigm shift to be made since we have grown up with schooling and education meaning two different things. Schooling was done at a school away from home, and education was done at home. In reality, homeschooling is about integrating the two; maybe the word is a misnomer. The truth is that when you homeschool you educate and every time you educate you are “schooling.” It is also true that a good education will support you in life anywhere and all the time. If your child is homeschooled, there may be time and opportunities available which are not provided by a school system requiring conformance to preset requirements. I truly believe that potential is not only not developed, but even lost in the constraints any human-designed system has. Many parents are considering the school systems, and they perceive the loneliness, the insecurity, loss of creativity and interest, and the boredom their children experience, and usually this is the starting point for many to consider home education. Others may have known all along that the school system did not develop their own potential and have, therefore, considered home education from the start as the way to educate their own children. So what is homeschooling about?
- It is a wonderful journey one undertakes in faith . . . the path is not clearly marked.
- It is a definite COMMITMENT you and your family make to each other.
- It is not just a good idea; it is so much more than that.
- It is a personal decision you make with your heart, and your head follows later.
- It is the right thing to do.
For an even better understanding of why people choose to home educate their children, read the Chris and Ellyn Davis’ eBook (available to read free) called Developing a Strong Enough WHY which emphasizes the importance of clarifying the real motivation for homeschooling. The intro reads as follows: In home schooling your children, if you have a strong enough WHY, the HOWs will take care of themselves. Most problems with home schooling tend to occur because parents get hung up over the HOWs of home schooling without having a strong enough WHY. To read the rest of the eBook, click here.
