by Steven David Horwich
I often am asked if every family should homeschool. There are families that appear ill-equipped to homeschool. There are many reasons why a family might struggle to homeschool, or even find it nearly impossible. Some of the more obvious reasons include:
- There’s no parent at home to work with the child, and no money to hire anyone to do so.
- The parent or parents may themselves feel undereducated, and hence, not adequate to the job of educating their children.
- Many families are single-parent households, and mom or dad must work to make a living.
- Some children may be seriously “behind”, as adjudicated by “experts”.
- Some children may be a handful for the family to “handle”.
- No support in the community for homeschooling.
Let’s take up each of these and answer them as accurately as I can. In this article, we’ll take the first of these concerns.
- There’s no parent at home to work with the child, and no money to hire anyone to do so.
Yup, that one’s a killer. Such families may very well be unable to homeschool, at least at first glance. Even using a curriculum such as the one I’ve designed, someone must be around some of the time to help the child. Additionally, a child cannot go to zoos, museums and the like unless an adult takes him. And a child will need an adult to help secure the needed resources such as books, paper, computer, whatever, for homeschooling. Is there any solution? Usually, yes.
Unless the parents each work multiple jobs, one of them is likely to be home at some part of the waking day or night. I know times are tough in a lot of places and for a lot of families, but we all go home sometime. In households with two parents, perhaps one could work a schedule that allows him or her to be home for four hours out of the day. Such schedule could be “tag-teamed”, where a parent is free for two hours, and then the other parent takes over. (Yes, Dad, you will have to help.)
And please note, these do not need to be “school-normal” hours like 9 am-2 pm, or something like that. Not all children learn best in the morning, and the student’s schedule could be adjusted in part to accommodate the teacher/parent’s. If mom can be home from 1 pm – 5 pm, those could be school hours. Under any circumstances, homeschoolers should take advantage of the flexibility provided by a homeschool situation. This flexibility includes selection of study hours, and these can be worked around availability of the parent/teacher, as well as around the student’s “best” and most awake study time.
The student could start school in the morning if old enough, and if self-sufficient enough), even if there is no supervision. For example, a teenage student who is not “problematic” (relatively speaking) might do some schoolwork from 10 am – noon, saving problems they need help with or tests that need to be done and then scored, for when the parent is available. This would not be very hard to work out, if the child is reasonably ethical.
Of course, many students are too young to be left at home alone, if there is no parent present. And this is one place where relatives or a homeschool co-op come into play. Many families can count on Grandma or Grandpa, or Uncle Bill to watch the children while mom and dad work. In fact, many families do. But relatives can do more than babysit! If the effort is really discussed and coordinated, if a reasonable amount of agreement as to method is developed, they can help with homeschool. If you can teach, so can Grandma.
I knew one family for many years just like this. The mom was a single mom, in fact, and her two sons were tutored by Grandma. In their fortunate case, grandma was a brilliant woman with several degrees! We’re not all so fortunate, but those boys could not have received more expert assistance. Of course, not all families are that fortunate. But depending of curriculum and the method one intends to apply to education, it really may be enough to have someone reasonably literate and interested at the helm for a period of time, each day.
SOMEONE is going to have to watch a child who is younger. If both parents are gone, and no relative is available, you should then consider a homeschool co-op with one or more other families. This will be discussed in detail in an upcoming article. For now and in brief, the idea is to work with other families who are also homeschooling, and to find ways to spread the work and requirements around to make it easier, more “social” and more interesting and do-able for all concerned. I like homeschool co-ops – but with a reservation. Just as when you work with anyone else, agreements between you and them are critical, and the methods and day-to-day approach to be used must be agreed upon before starting homeschool. This will call for meetings between parents and other participants, and plenty of them, in preparation.
As to money, it should never be the determining factor in how good an education a child is able to receive. We’re not all rich. Many homeschoolers are pretty broke, folks. Historically, until around 1860, almost everyone homeschooled, including indigent farm families and you name it. Abe Lincoln, who I’ve written about before, had no resources, and educated himself by reading borrowed books and interning with a lawyer, into a career and finally, the Presidency. Money is not the be all and end all that politicians and institutional educators would like you to believe. The amount of money one has available does not determine the level of education a child receives. The most expensive private school is very often not the best. The most expensive education can oft times be a complete failure. And can anyone argue that Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, or Charles Dickens were not schooled well, though they came from relative poverty and hardship? Money is no excuse.
Even a near complete lack of funding need not be a deterrent to homeschooling. I knew one family who sourced almost all of their study materials from their local library system. Their daughter did her entire homeschooling through High School that way! They spent almost nothing! It can be done.
Time, the availability of the parent or teacher, is a far more important factor than money. And this, I believe at least in part, often comes down to willingness. Let’s face it, if the parent or teacher isn’t enthused about homeschooling their child, the time and the resources will not be “available”. If a parent has come to realize that homeschooling is their child’s very best chance for a good education, and even a good life, they’ll find the enthusiasm and the resources from somewhere. History is just too full of such parents and stories for this to be debatable.
But some people feel inadequately educated to handle their children in a homeschool situation. Others feel temperamentally unfit. We’ll discuss this in the next article. For now, I’ll keep it simple and tell you – YOU CAN DO IT. And you can teach your child more effectively, and in far more safety, than can any school!
Steven Horwich has been a professional educator for over 40 years, and a homeschool advocate and author of curriculum for 15. His K-12 secular curriculum, STEPS (www.stepsed.com) has been used by over 20,000 students worldwide, and includes world history, science, civics, creative writing, study basics, current events, and lots of arts.
I often am asked if every family should homeschool. There are families that appear ill-equipped to homeschool. There are many reasons why a family might struggle to homeschool, or even find it nearly impossible. Some of the more obvious reasons include:
- There’s no parent at home to work with the child, and no money to hire anyone to do so.
- The parent or parents may themselves feel undereducated, and hence, not adequate to the job of educating their children.
- Many families are single-parent households, and mom or dad must work to make a living.
- Some children may be seriously “behind”, as adjudicated by “experts”.
- Some children may be a handful for the family to “handle”.
- No support in the community for homeschooling.
Let’s take up each of these and answer them as accurately as I can. In this article, we’ll take the first of these concerns.
- There’s no parent at home to work with the child, and no money to hire anyone to do so.
Yup, that one’s a killer. Such families may very well be unable to homeschool, at least at first glance. Even using a curriculum such as the one I’ve designed, someone must be around some of the time to help the child. Additionally, a child cannot go to zoos, museums and the like unless an adult takes him. And a child will need an adult to help secure the needed resources such as books, paper, computer, whatever, for homeschooling. Is there any solution? Usually, yes.
Unless the parents each work multiple jobs, one of them is likely to be home at some part of the waking day or night. I know times are tough in a lot of places and for a lot of families, but we all go home sometime. In households with two parents, perhaps one could work a schedule that allows him or her to be home for four hours out of the day. Such schedule could be “tag-teamed”, where a parent is free for two hours, and then the other parent takes over. (Yes, Dad, you will have to help.)
And please note, these do not need to be “school-normal” hours like 9 am-2 pm, or something like that. Not all children learn best in the morning, and the student’s schedule could be adjusted in part to accommodate the teacher/parent’s. If mom can be home from 1 pm – 5 pm, those could be school hours. Under any circumstances, homeschoolers should take advantage of the flexibility provided by a homeschool situation. This flexibility includes selection of study hours, and these can be worked around availability of the parent/teacher, as well as around the student’s “best” and most awake study time.
The student could start school in the morning if old enough, and if self-sufficient enough), even if there is no supervision. For example, a teenage student who is not “problematic” (relatively speaking) might do some schoolwork from 10 am – noon, saving problems they need help with or tests that need to be done and then scored, for when the parent is available. This would not be very hard to work out, if the child is reasonably ethical.
Of course, many students are too young to be left at home alone, if there is no parent present. And this is one place where relatives or a homeschool co-op come into play. Many families can count on Grandma or Grandpa, or Uncle Bill to watch the children while mom and dad work. In fact, many families do. But relatives can do more than babysit! If the effort is really discussed and coordinated, if a reasonable amount of agreement as to method is developed, they can help with homeschool. If you can teach, so can Grandma.
I knew one family for many years just like this. The mom was a single mom, in fact, and her two sons were tutored by Grandma. In their fortunate case, grandma was a brilliant woman with several degrees! We’re not all so fortunate, but those boys could not have received more expert assistance. Of course, not all families are that fortunate. But depending of curriculum and the method one intends to apply to education, it really may be enough to have someone reasonably literate and interested at the helm for a period of time, each day.
SOMEONE is going to have to watch a child who is younger. If both parents are gone, and no relative is available, you should then consider a homeschool co-op with one or more other families. This will be discussed in detail in an upcoming article. For now and in brief, the idea is to work with other families who are also homeschooling, and to find ways to spread the work and requirements around to make it easier, more “social” and more interesting and do-able for all concerned. I like homeschool co-ops – but with a reservation. Just as when you work with anyone else, agreements between you and them are critical, and the methods and day-to-day approach to be used must be agreed upon before starting homeschool. This will call for meetings between parents and other participants, and plenty of them, in preparation.
As to money, it should never be the determining factor in how good an education a child is able to receive. We’re not all rich. Many homeschoolers are pretty broke, folks. Historically, until around 1860, almost everyone homeschooled, including indigent farm families and you name it. Abe Lincoln, who I’ve written about before, had no resources, and educated himself by reading borrowed books and interning with a lawyer, into a career and finally, the Presidency. Money is not the be all and end all that politicians and institutional educators would like you to believe. The amount of money one has available does not determine the level of education a child receives. The most expensive private school is very often not the best. The most expensive education can oft times be a complete failure. And can anyone argue that Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, or Charles Dickens were not schooled well, though they came from relative poverty and hardship? Money is no excuse.
Even a near complete lack of funding need not be a deterrent to homeschooling. I knew one family who sourced almost all of their study materials from their local library system. Their daughter did her entire homeschooling through High School that way! They spent almost nothing! It can be done.
Time, the availability of the parent or teacher, is a far more important factor than money. And this, I believe at least in part, often comes down to willingness. Let’s face it, if the parent or teacher isn’t enthused about homeschooling their child, the time and the resources will not be “available”. If a parent has come to realize that homeschooling is their child’s very best chance for a good education, and even a good life, they’ll find the enthusiasm and the resources from somewhere. History is just too full of such parents and stories for this to be debatable.
But some people feel inadequately educated to handle their children in a homeschool situation. Others feel temperamentally unfit. We’ll discuss this in the next article. For now, I’ll keep it simple and tell you – YOU CAN DO IT. And you can teach your child more effectively, and in far more safety, than can any school!
Steven Horwich has been a professional educator for over 40 years, and a homeschool advocate and author of curriculum for 15. His K-12 secular curriculum, STEPS (www.stepsed.com) has been used by over 20,000 students worldwide, and includes world history, science, civics, creative writing, study basics, current events, and lots of arts.
