What is All or Nothing Homeschooling? Is it a new learning model, a new curriculum, a trend?
No. It’s an accumulation of stewed homeschool opinions that can create barriers to parents considering bringing their children out of public school.
I began homeschooling in 1992, in the attic of our home. I was educated in public school and it’s all I knew, so that’s what I did. I wasn’t quite as rigid of course, but we had old desks, grammar posters, a bulletin board, and a cast iron bell on my desk. I began teaching my friends’ children together with my own.
We had a great time!
Over time my style changed based on what my children needed. That worked, too.
They went back to public school on occasion – and then back home.
What would I have done differently? Nothing. I did what I thought was best for them at the time.
I frequently peruse social media comments regarding home education.
I’m seeing an increasing number of parents dipping their feet into the homeschool waters – testing to see if it’s something they can do for their own children. There’s no lack of advice.
These are some of the things I’ve read.
- Don’t make it look like public school. You’re not really homeschooling if it looks like public school.
- After bringing your children home, you must deschool before you do anything –six months, maybe longer.
- Unschooling is the only way to really homeschool.
- A child shouldn’t be exposed to ANY academics until age 6 (or 7, or 8, or …)
- A child should begin learning letters and numbers at age 3 (or 4, 5, 6, 7…)
- Your child should be reading by age 5 (or 6, or 7, or 8…)
- Worksheets are bad. They are just busy work.
- Worksheets are good. They reinforce learning.
- Homeschool is parent led.
- Homeschool is child led.
- Homeschool is expensive.
- Homeschool is cheap.
You can see the confusion, and quite possibly panic – welling up inside a prospective homeschool parent as they seek jumping-off advice from seasoned home educators.
The responses remind me of the parable of the five men and the elephant. The moral of the parable is that humans have a tendency to claim absolute truth based on their limited, subjective experience as they ignore other people’s limited, subjective experiences, which may be equally true. What works for you may not work for someone else.
Mom shaming is unacceptable in any arena. It’s horrendous when unleashed on moms who are stepping out into the unknown, looking for a friendly hand that only slaps them.
We are all just trying to do the best we can for our littles. Thumper said it best: “If you can’t say anything nice (encouraging), don’t say anything at all.”
