Some Thoughts on Homeschooling
I went back through on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to begin consolidating my favorite quotes to share with you and I got lost in some of the comments. Wow, there are many people who truly hate the idea and concept of homeschooling and some who therefore hate the homeschooling parent and family. I get that some can come from having a bad experience yourself as a kid and the failure of realizing your educational experience was decades ago when homeschooling was certainly done differently because the technology was different. It astounds me though the level of hate. I don’t see someone’s back to school photo in September and start a comment thread rambling about my opinions on public school. I understand everyone’s experiences are different and I know that there are really good teachers and really bad teachers. I know that there are very good homeschoolers and very bad homeschoolers. I love homeschooling so I invest a TON of time and energy into creating the magic that I believe education should be. I want to help other parents who are, like me, motivated to educate their children. But just as there are certified teachers that are not passionate (or have lost their passion) there are moms and dads who have too. Just as there are teachers who share your opinions, parents do too. It is not “indoctrination” and most of the large homeschool accounts that the haters spew their hate on are the ones who actually care. Like a ton! THey aren’t the one’s you need to worry about.
When are we finally going to see that there is not a one size fits all approach to anything in life, and when are we going to stop trying to sell our version to others (especially those who show absolutely no intent of trading in their way). Do you ever have a political candidate with whom you agree 100%? Do you have a boss, a pastor, a co-worker, best friend, spouse, child, book club, softball team, whatever, that you align your beliefs with 100%? Well, I sure hope not. When free thinkers think freely, we have diversity which allows us to have these tifts in the human race. Stop allowing the difference to cause you to be completely irrational to your fellow human beings, even “just” behind a computer keyboard. THis nasty comment, the rage, the hate, the one-size approach will never be what changes someone’s opinion, except that you are a bigot. When I see someone comment on a beautifully curated video of a homeschooled day that was obviously well planned out by a parent who obviously cares - “homeschool is child abuse”, I don’t put my phone down to go enroll my kids in school thinking “oh gosh, you must be right”. I see the threads of comments then by both pro and anti homeschoolers calling eachother names, judging eachothers positions, and guess what? Absolutely no freaking thing, is solved. Both parties have wasted their energies getting sucked into the other’s negativity in a way that, even if I was seeking an alternate stance, would never switch them to an alternate stance.
Are there kids who benefit from homeschooling? Yes. Are there kids who may benefit more from what the public school system provides? Absolutely. Are there kids who rely on the public school system for quality of life? No doubt. Is every parent equipped to homeschool? Definitely not!
Not every county and state has the same requirements. So whichever way you lean, are you really that concerned with another child’s education? A random family on instagram, or are you projecting your own feelings of shortcoming, your own homeschool experience of decades ago, your friend’s experience or a son of a co-worker’s sister’s two-cents on the subject? This applies to any hot debate topic.Most have an experience related to a certian topic. I remember being so pro-daycare because I was trying to rationalize my “need” to work because the thought of staying home scared me. I wasn’t maternal. How could I ever, so I began climbing this hill and would probably die on that hill if 2020 hadn’t happened and covid closed schools, literally FORCING me to stay home with my kids. And I fell in love.
But is that need to rationalize your reason for being anti-homeschool too? Maybe take a step back, stop imposing your opinion on the random family you saw a 60 second reel of, and find what your real problem is. Then handle that privately, with your family or a therapist, not in the comment section.