Choosing to Home School

Making the decision about how we will educate our children is a difficult one. Today's parents have so many choices, and not every choice is right for every family. But, it is funny to see how adamant most families are about the choice they make, and to the point of condemning others who educate differently than them.

In the past education first was done at home with the parents teaching. And wealthier families could choose private tutors or boarding schools. As time passed schools for the working class emerged on the scene. Which leads us to our current public school system where most parents choose to educate their children? But, today we can choose either: public, private, parochial, or home schooling.

Private and parochial schooling provides smaller class sizes and religious instruction. But can be very expensive. Home schooling has individual learning, religious instruction, and supports family bonds. The costs can vary from minimal to expensive. And public schooling provides tradition education at no cost. For our family we chose to home school.

When deciding to home school you need to research the different techniques and approaches. And decide which best suits your family. Some of the home schooling approaches are the following: classical, traditional, unschooling, or eclectic. The classical or Charlotte Mason method is: narration, copy work, nature study, habit training, living books (not textbooks), memorization, and first hand exposure. The traditional method is school at home, using textbooks and is teacher led learning. Unschooling is child led learning, where everything in life from making change to flying a kite is education. And eclectic is a combination of all the methods. Personally I feel that the eclectic approach is the most balanced, and we are traditional eclectics. This gives us the much needed structure of textbooks while balancing with hands on activities. Everything and everyday is looked at as a teachable moment.

With what ever choice you make for your child's education you must be dedicated to see it through. But not so dogmatic that you wouldn't change if necessary. There are some days I would love to have eight hours to myself and others when I love having the kids with me. But I am dedicated to not flip flop about deciding to home school. While I also use the public schools to teach classes that I can't adequately teach myself. All parents want the best for their families. And what is the best for my kids may not be for your children. We all need to keep this in mind and not be self righteous to those different than us.

I hope this helps other families to understand a little more about home schooling.

There are many choices for our children's education, and to examine your family to see what is best.