Homeschooling: You can do it! [bluebell]

Alternate title: If I can do it, so can you.

You all are sharp people, as evidenced by your presence at this smart military blog, so you are well aware of the state of disarray in the nation's public (and sadly, even some private) schools. So I won't go into all that, except to say that if you are unhappy about the situation and you have school-aged children, there's a great solution out there and of course you know it's homeschooling.

I've mentioned here before that I homeschooled all five of our children all the way from birth through high school. Did I do a good job? Yes. Did I do a great job? Probably not. Were there holes in their education? Yes, some good (no Critical Race Theory in the Bluebell Academy!) and others not so good (we never did get around to studying much geography, although one of my kids later minored in it in college). Are all my kids productive members of society, with jobs and all that? Yes! And they still like me!

At the time I started homeschooling in 1996, most people had not heard of it and I can remember being asked, more than once, "is it legal?" Although we were fortunate to have full support from both our families (even the teachers! Because they're conservative, that's why), many homeschoolers in those days did not. Fortunately, the tide has turned and most people recognize the many benefits of homeschooling and that homeschooled kids are not unsocialized tree stumps with nothing to contribute to the world.

So how do you do it? Well, you start by finding out what your state requires. The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) has a very helpful section on their website for each state, as well as a lot of other useful info. That takes care of the administrative stuff.

As for the curriculum stuff, ah, here's the fun part - you can do pretty much what you want, as long as you keep in mind that your kids need to learn to read and write and do 'rithmetic and all that jazz. But particularly in the younger grades, you can cater to their interests. Does your second-grader love Ancient Egypt? You can spend a whole year doing a deep dive into the pharaohs, mummies, King Tut (you have to show them the Steve Martin video, it's the law), etc. Your library will have all kinds of great picture books you can use. It doesn't have to be anything formal or fancy at this age.

When you get to middle school and then high school, you need to start being a little more structured. There is a ton of information out there that you can find to help you plan out your child's middle school and high school years, and a ton of curricula to help you meet those goals. Will colleges accept homeschooled kids? They sure will. My kids got into everywhere they applied, and they all chose state schools here in Virginia. Not all kids want to go on to college, and if they are interested in trades they can get started on those while still in high school - they will have more free time than the average high schooler. If your child is interested in joining the military after high school, you would need to look into their requirements, of course, and adjust your curriculum to suit. I know homeschooled kids who have enlisted and others who have gone to military service academies.

The bottom line is, you can do this. There will have to be adjustments, sure. If both parents work, you need to figure out how to address this - maybe one parent can go part-time, or arrange the work schedules so that someone is always there, or maybe even one parent can give up their job temporarily to give homeschooling a try. My husband and I have lived on one paycheck (his) ever since our first child was born. Everyone, and I mean everyone, told us we wouldn't be able to do it. We were both stubborn and determined, and we did it. Did we live high on the hog? No way. But we scraped by, our kids had everything they needed, and I had the time to devote to their education. I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

I could go on and on about this topic, as I lived it for 23 years and it is near and dear to my heart. But I want to encourage those of you who are thinking about it to sit down with your spouse and have a serious discussion about it, even if it seems that it wouldn't be possible for you. You will never know unless you really give it some hard thought and talk about ways you can achieve this goal, including the sacrifices. If it's important to you, you will find a way, I guarantee it.

And I will be here cheering you on all the way.

posted by Open Blogger at 12:00 PM

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