4 Kinds of Parents Who Probably Shouldn’t Homeschool
It’s that time of year again, where the Life Coach in me takes a back seat to the parent in me as we gear up for another school year.
I’m a firm believer any parent can homeschool their kids, if they see enough value in it to motivate them to try. I’m also a firm believer that this is really uncomfortable in the short term, but far better in the long term for both child and parent.
I don’t think there’s anything innately special about homeschool parents that allows them to teach their kids while the “average parent” just can’t cut it. Rather, it’s a shift in thinking that prevents most parents being able to pull it off.
You’re probably not going to find a stronger proponent of home education than right here, but if you find yourself in one of these four categories, there’s probably a shift in thinking that needs to occur before you can take up the challenge to teach your kids the life skills they’ll need.
You have no vision for education
What’s the purpose of education? More than likely, you didn’t pause to answer that question, but skipped right along to this sentence, and for good reason. Most people never think about the purpose of education, and with no purpose (goal) it’s impossible to succeed, fail, or even gauge progress.
Many parent’s I’ve talked to have the goal of getting their kids through the system. Get a diploma in their hand and all is well. I see no value in that, especially when we look at the results that system produces. That’s shooting at such a low mark it becomes a non-goal.
You don’t like your kids
Every autumn I overhear parents talking about how they are so glad summer is over so their kids can go back to school and stop driving them crazy. That makes me sad. Apparently a lot of parents don’t like their kids. Interestingly, a lot of other parents don’t like to be around their kids either.
You have more important things to do
What do you find yourself doing with your spare time? I used to spend hours a day watching TV. What a waste. I was declaring with my time that TV was more important than my kids, my wife, and my friends.
If you’re in that place where your hobbies come first, you shouldn’t try to homeschool. It, like all worthy endeavors, requires self-sacrifice. If TV, internet, gardening, pool league, or WOW are more important to you, ask yourself where that pursuit will lead. Ask yourself where pursuing family relationships will lead. Which one do you want to win out in your life? Which one actually does?
You don’t think you’re qualified
For some reason we’ve bought into the idea that it takes a professional to educate children, and then defined a professional as someone with a four year degree.
Follow me here. You can read, write, fill out a job application, drive a car, vote, do your taxes, balance a checkbook, and a whole host of other life skills. You can do all the things a person has to do in our culture to survive and thrive. You are qualified to live life, and to show your kids how to do it too. And you can probably do it better than someone who is not emotionally and permanently invested in those kids.
You are fully qualified to teach your kids to live life, because you already know how. Besides, you’re already doing it anyway. Who taught your kids to ride a bike, bake cookies, or cinch in a rear naked chokehold? You’re already homeschooling your kids in these areas because you realize the school system won’t. Why be afraid to teach them a bit of reading and math too?
Congrats, unqualified parent. You just received your qualifications to teach your own kids.
[Photo credit: Justina Kochansky]
Greetings.
My name is Dean Mehrkens and I'm a husband, father of eight, and Life Coach, in that order. I live in Minnesota, drink way too much coffee, and enjoy pie. What more is there to know about me?
I'm Dean; a husband, father of eight, and life coach.
The decision to home school is the right one for some people. Absolutely God does call some in that direction, however its not what He asks of everyone. I honestly feel I would be Jonah running away if WE home schooled. God has called us to be missionaries in our homelands, and so we have sent our kids out onto the playground and into their classrooms to share the gospel and show God’s love to many who don’t have the opportunity to see it anywhere else. Through our involvement with the public school God has given us relationships with so many families that we wouldn’t have crossed paths with otherwise. Nearly 50% of the kids in our school district live below the poverty line. It is heartbreaking to know how many of them come from single parent households. It is even harder to know how many kindergartners have never been to church. I have several good friends in the elementary who know their parents don’t like them. These are the kids who need someone to care. These kids come off the bus looking for a hug. These are the kids who need our public schools to be able to provide a safe and loving environment with quality education. God calls some of us Christian parents to be apart of the public school system. If everyone who has a vision for education and cares about their kids keeps them at home, there won’t be anyone left to shine their little lights for the rest. My kids are open, caring, and outspoken Christians in their school. I am on the school board and volunteer 1 day a week in the classroom, and I feel so honored and blessed to have been chosen for this service.
Thanks so much for such a well reasoned response. It’s obvious you’ve put a lot a thought into your stance on education, which is great to see.
I wrote this post from a secular standpoint. Your comment was of a theological nature, so I’ll respond from my theological platform. I don’t see any place in the Bible that tells us to send our children out as missionaries. I see clear passages that tell us to train them, but nothing about sending them into the “lion’s den,” if you will.
I’m very wary of taking the stand you’ve taken. It’s been my experience that the Christian child is often more heavily influenced than the mass of non-Christians they associate with. It takes a very special sort of child to withstand the peer pressure and lure of sin. It sure can be done (Daniel comes to mind), but like I said, I’m wary of taking that approach.