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Homeschool Makeover - #5

1 February 2009 3 Comments

You might be wondering why we’re spending a lot of time talking about parents, a not a whole lot about the kids. Well, let’s be honest, the parents are the kingpins of the homeschooling experience. If the parents haven’t got it together, ain’t nothin’ gonna work.

So today’s homeschool makeover question refers to your feelings about your own education. What was your education like? What baggage are you carrying from your learning experiences? Do you have any fears or expectations that can be directly attributed to your school life?

And most importantly, how do you feel now, about your current knowledge and learning? Are you confident that you are capable of learning? Do you accept your strengths and weaknesses? Do you know how to learn?

The answers to these questions are pivotal to our approach in educating our own kids. Having a solid understanding of what we are bringing to the table can help us see where we might be getting in our own way as we teach our children. It can also show us what we are teaching them indirectly.

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This is part 5 of a series for giving ourselves a homeschool makeover. These are the other questions. Click on the links to see what others have said.

Question #1 - Where will you be a year from now?
Question #2 - What is success?
Question #3 - What is the role of failure in learning?
Question #4 - What is the role of enthusiasm?
Question #6 - Assessing our tools.
Question #7 - Are you happy?

3 Comments »

Sonja said:

I don’t know that I really home school now as my children are only 2 and 3 years old, but my plan is to home school them when they are “school age.” A large part of that is because of my experience with public education up through high school graduation. I learned almost nothing, and I had really bad social experiences. Nothing could make me go back to that time, and I am determined to give my children the options that I never had (mainly to leave unproductive, negative environments). As for post-high school education, I’ve run the gambit on that, and I’d say that I’ve ended up mostly dissatisfied, both with the practicality of what I’ve learned and the expense of the learning. I’ve probably spent 30-40k on “higher” education, and now it all sort of seems like a scam.

These experiences with education are directly related to my decision to home school. There are other reasons, too, but none more important.

Sonja’s last blog post: I’m not always a complete dick and other revelations

# 28 February 2009 at 9:51 pm

Lisa said:

Thank you so much for posting this. I would love to take my children out of the public school, but:”Am I capable?”

Lisa’s last blog post: Commerce FFA

# 13 May 2009 at 4:49 pm

Melissa, http://www.yourhomeschoolcommunity.com said:

What was my education like? Not a happy time, I’m afraid. I was way ahead of my peers, and bullied for being an overachiever. I was terrified of having children because they might go through what I went through in the school system. It was my husband who suggested homeschooling and, after doing lots of research, we haven’t looked back!

I love finding articles that are pro-homeschooling, as they are very encouraging to me. Check out my article about a mother who obliterates homeschooling stereotypes at http://yourhomeschoolcommunity.com/blog/?p=21.

Thanks for all of your great information. Keep up the good work.

# 27 November 2009 at 4:26 am