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9 Reasons You Should NOT Homeschool is a post from Jen from Forever, For Always, No Matter What:
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It isn’t too often I would ever deter someone from homeschooling. The truth is, it’s not rocket science. It {mostly!} only takes determination and perseverance. However, there are times when perhaps homeschooling isn’t the best course of action and those reasons usually rest with the mom! I hate to say it, but it’s true.
Here are my reasons you should NOT consider homeschooling:
1. You are bound and determined to recreate school at home. The thing is, most of us grew up going to public school, so the natural tendency is to create what we know. Home is not school.
2. You aren’t willing to step out of your comfort zone. Even though homeschooling has grown in popularity over the years, it’s still not the norm. You will be questioned and you will be challenged about your decision. There are still plenty of people out there who will think you are making a mistake and think you are weird.
3. You don’t like to learn new things. Mostly about yourself. If you think homeschooling is all about the children, think again!
4. You don’t want to be an active participant in your children’s education. If you generally find life boring and not much interests you, your children probably won’t be interested in much either. Much of homeschooling is about learning together.
5. You don’t like to be in charge. I don’t mean be in charge in a bossy, drill sergeant sort of way. I mean take over total control of your child’s education. If that doesn’t make you a little nervous, that could be a problem too.
6. You are homeschooling to please someone else. If you are homeschooling because your best friend is doing it, or if everyone in your church circle is doing it, well, I think that’s a recipe for disaster.
7. You lack perseverance. We all do from time to time. We all want to throw in the towel. Every homeschool mom I have ever talked to has wanted to quit at one time or another. But you can’t quit after the first bad day. Heck, your very first day will most likely be a bad day.
8. Homeschooling is an experiment. I know many people try homeschooling as a “we’ll see how it goes,” but if your kids are reluctant about homeschooling in the least, they will sense you aren’t all in and it won’t be good. They will wear you down and be back in school in no time.
9. You don’t like things to get messy. I’m not talking craft messy, I’m talking tornado through your house messy with a bit of chaos thrown in. Now, everyday won’t be like that, but we all have days that feel completely psycho from the time we wake up until the time we drop into bed. See #7
Homeschooling is about so much more than math lessons. Homeschooling is when learning and life collide, and that’s a good thing.
Why would you tell someone not to homeschool?Â
Other Posts That Might Interest You:
- 10 Ways to Make Your Homeschool Days Run Smoothly
- How to Plan Your Homeschool Year
- 10 Things Every Homeschool Parent Should Know
- When Your Homeschooling Style Looks Different
- When Homeschooling Doesn’t Look Like You Thought
- Encouragement for New Homeschool Moms
- Every Education Has Gaps and Other Truths I’ve Learned
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Debbie Gaudino says
I loved this post – I have been homeschooling my two kids for 9 years and lately have been meeting many fails interested in starting to homeschool – these are great and absolutely necessary qualities in order to be successful (and stay sane). I would add one more – make sure your spouse is fully supportive of homeschooling – if my husband wasn’t such a support and encouragement I would be lost.
Debbie Gaudino says
Sorry – not fails, families….silly auto-correct…
Jen says
Amen!! I’ve written about that before, so true! Thanks for reading.
David Thoms says
You missed one of the reasons that cause a lot of people to homeschool. They homeschool so they don’t have to get out of bed and get the kids off to school in the morning. Homeschooling done as you do it can be a great thing. Unfortunately very many do it for the reason above.
Natalie McLaughlin says
I am in agreement that these are qualities that make homeschooling ‘easier’ but I struggle to hear mom’s say, “I could never homeschool because….” I would really struggle to hear someone say, “I can’t homeschool because I just don’t have the perseverance that you have….” or “I just don’t like my house messy and having my kids around all day would drive me crazy.” I couldn’t tell if your article was a sarcastic ‘here are reasons you shouldn’t homeschool’ or if it was a challenge to mom’s to take themselves out of the equation when deciding what he best for their children… As a believer, whether or not to homeschool really should be bathed in prayer. The reality is that I started off homeschooling with very little of most of these qualities… but I knew this is what the Lord desired for our family. God has used the unique challenges of homeschooling and caring and loving my kids in this way to change ME. It has made me grow more in patience, in perseverance, how to tolerate a messy house because there are other things more important, etc… To use the lack of these things as an exuse NOT to homeschool can take away the most amazing and glorious fact that God could very well use homeschooling your children TO grow you in those areas. I think most, if not all, of these reasons are selfish ones… Just a few thoughts that came to mind as I read your article.
Regina says
This article is spot on!! I have been homeschooling for many years and was a teacher before starting to homeschool my son; it is a whole different ballgame. Many people I see try to make homeschool just like a school room, I don’t understand this concept. If you want your child in a schoolroom, send them to school. Homeschooling is so much more than books and tests, it is valuable time spent teaching your children about life not just the three r’s.
Aubrey says
I would add to that if you lack work ethic you probably shouldn’t homeschool. You have to be *on* every single day. You can’t just flake out because you’re too tired or just don’t feel like it. Once in a while, sure, take a break. But if you’re noticing you’re off more than you’re on, there’s a problem.
Dana says
I liked this article, but beg to disagree with a few of them. We’ve been homeschooling for ten years. At times, I’ve recreated school at home, taken a passive attitude to what the kids are learning, struggled with lack of support, stopped school to clean house, threatened to march everyone over to the public school TODAY if they don’t just FINISH the assignment NOW. I am definitely NOT “on” every day. But as I work with my kids, I’ve learned to see how and when learning is taking place. Sometimes it’s hard work. But we play to our strengths. We might have a really comprehensive, engaging, science or history project that stretches out the rest of the day. Then there will be a few days of minimal journal-and-workbook stuff that can be done in an hour or so while I run errands or work on a personal project. Maybe one day where I get “lessons” in spelling or grammar and we cover a solid academic topic or two. Sometimes it seems like my only job is taxi driver — what school gets done is in cars and coffee shops. I make lots of lovely lists and plans that never get executed. But somehow work gets done, and I would say that all my kids are relatively well balanced and well educated. Not super-geniuses, but able to seek out information they need, and capable of expressing an intelligent response to the world. We’ve been able to enjoy each other’s company for all those years, which I consider an irreplaceable benefit.
laurie says
I agree- while chuckling inside! A few of those qualities apply to me. It has been a long journey to overcome them. I guess that means I was willing to be knocked out of my comfort zone. Although, I am not always happy about it! 🙂
Wendy says
Chances are that *most* people reading this article either are currently homeschooling, or are considering it. So as a homeschooling mom of 6 (currently in a phase where the house is a disaster and school looks more like harvest and food preservation), I’d like to add to the comments above just in pointing out that we already ARE homeschooling parents, whether our children go somewhere else to learn for a part of the day or not.
Parenting isn’t always pretty, but it’s amazing how beautiful it can be when fears are faced with perspectives like this article: a healthy dose of humor, lots of learning-as-we-go, realizing it’s not supposed to be a picnic–it’s not even supposed to look a certain way!–so take a deep breath! You can be an amazing teacher and guide for your children, and you live in an amazing time with so many great educational options!
Any great endeavor ultimately needs more than fears or fun to be the main driving forces behind it, but you can search your heart and your family’s hearts and find some powerful reasons TO do the things that are most important, then move forward knowing that there will be pains associated with growth and change, both for you and for your children… but there really isn’t a way to avoid that, wherever they are learning, right?
Being an involved parent is a big responsibility and your heart needs to be in it, but you are their Mother and your heart absolutely already IS in this, more than any teacher, however “qualified”.
Francine Heyko says
If you start with the idea that you are going to give up
Before you start you are not going to end up very far in all that! I’m homeschooling since 1996 and I have been against a lot of road blocks, but was and still determine too keep at it no matter what for the sake of my children, so let’s not let yourself discourage by anybody else like, if you put your efforts into it You can succeed!
Katlin says
This is one of the more insular and self-righteous blog posts I’ve ever read. Some of the reasons that you mentioned are so judgmental of people who send their kids to school. We stopped homeschooling because of health issues, and so I have been both a homeschooling mom and a kids-at-school mom. It’s ridiculous to think that moms who don’t homeschool have no perseverance, and are not interested in being involved in their child’s education. I know that even though my kids are in school I am the primary educator.
Angie Kauffman says
Katlin – I’m sorry that you read the blog in the way that you took it, but I can assure you that Jen saying that homeschoolers need these qualities doesn’t mean that she thinks that people who choose public school don’t have these qualities. For instance, if she said, “You need to have self-confidence to run for president,” it wouldn’t mean that everyone who doesn’t run for president must not have self-confidence. She just meant that these were all qualities that were important for homeschoolers.
While I didn’t write this post (obviously), I do own this site. One of my children is in public school right now, so I definitely wouldn’t allow something to be posted that was negative about those that choose public school.
Again, sorry that you took it in a way that wasn’t intended, however.
Michelle Cannon says
Amen to EVERY single one of these!