I homeschooled our five children for twenty-four years, from 1982-2006. During those two decades, much changed on the home education front. When I first began, homeschooling wasn't even legal in our state, and I had to do much soul-searching about trying it. Because I wanted to educate my children well and ensure that any schooling we did would pass public scrutiny, I worked extra hard to do the best job I could. Eventually, home education broke free of its fringe status and became both legal and socially acceptable. My eldest daughter, who is now a second-generation homeschooler, loves to remind me that we were pioneers on the homeschooling front.
Today it's a badge of honor; back then it was enough to make us suspect by respectable people.
Now homeschooling is acceptable, I think it's important to remember our homespun roots and how very hard it was to win the freedoms we have. It's still hard work. That being said, most homeschooling families will tell you that finding the balance between study and play is a challenge, to say the least. Below I've listed a few things that I wished I'd known when I began homeschooling. Hope it encourages you in your own adventure as a home educator.
I Wish I'd Known...
1. ...homeschooling would become legal. I worked hard to ensure that anyone coming into our school would not find us slacking. Documentation was brutal. In a way, it was good for us - a lot like surviving boot camp. But it was tough convincing the kids not to run when they saw a police car. They love telling that story.
1. ...children learn differently. I discovered this the hard way. Some of my children just had to be told something once and they got it. Others were visual learners and had to be shown a concept in a visual in order to grasp it. Still others were also tactile; they needed to have their hands in a project to really learn. I eventually found that a mix of audio, visual, and tactile cues worked best at instilling concepts.
2. ...handwriting isn't that important in the scheme of life. Sure, it's nice, but I spent a lot of hours making them practice it, and now I see that each person has just developed his/own style, anyway. My middle son Kevin, who was right-handed, is now left-handed since his spinal cord injury. Who knew. You have to teach it, but don't dwell on it.
3. ...to be easier on myself. Teaching your own is a heavy responsibility. But it's a great honor. Enjoy the opportunity. Enjoy your children. It feels like homeschooling lasts forever (it nearly did for me!), but it's over before you know it.
4. ...kids have very selective memories. Now when they get together as adults, they love to talk about the fun they had and the silly stuff we did. Those days I crashed and burned as a parent have been mercifully forgotten. I made a lot of mistakes, but they remember the love and hard work I poured into them. That's humbling.
5. ...how great they would turn out. It would have encouraged me so much on those days when we all wanted to run away. In separate directions.
6. ...how much I would treasure those days in later years. How thoroughly and beautifully God would answer my deepest prayers for each one of my children. How faithful God is to bless our meager efforts.
I can't give you a storybook ending to our story. Life has been hard for us and our adult children. But I'm thankful that the skills we learned together through homeschooling prepared us to survive, endure, and even conquer life's challenges. Be encouraged. You're doing great.
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