YES!
So many are considering homeschooling because of the pandemic but I know many parents are insecure and worried they will “mess their kid up”. Well, don’t believe that for a minute! You can do this! Do not fall for the lie that a school system can train up your child better than you can. You know your child better than anyone. You know what makes them tick. You know what they love to talk about. You know what they are good at. Most teachers and school systems want your child to conform to their standards. They are required to teach to the average student and if you have one falling behind or one that’s bored because they are able and want to move faster, well, that’s just too bad. Your child gets a label—learning disabled or a disruptive know-it-all.
I home educated both my children almost every “grade” (they both made a go at “real” school at one point, but both ended up wanting to come back home). I don’t have a college degree. I spent 5 years taking college classes and changing majors because I couldn’t settle on anything that I really wanted to do. I realized that I just love to learn. Don’t miss this: The desire to learn is what you want to instill in your child. Teach a child to read and their possibilities are endless! He or she can learn just about anything. They can follow their passion. What a wonderful thing! And it doesn’t really matter if their desire doesn’t fall into a traditional subject–history, English, math, science, etc. You can learn all those things through whatever it is that interests your child. Take sports, for instance. If your child is interested in a particular sport, use their interest to teach the traditional subjects around it. Read about the history of their favorite sport, study the geography surrounding it. Do some math involving their favorite sport. Write a short paragraphs about sporting events they watch on TV or do a report of a game in which they participated. Make learning fun!
And don’t get caught up in grade levels. Those are man-made guidelines that know nothing about your child. Talk to your child. Read to them. Have discussions with them and LISTEN to them. You can learn a lot just by listening.
There are a number of good umbrella schools out there that will give you guidance. Make sure you find one that suits you. Some umbrella schools look just like a regular school system. They tell you what to do and sell you the resources you need for your child to pass the grade. Other umbrella schools are more flexible and allow you the freedom to make the decisions (this is how I chose to home educate). I didn’t want someone telling me how to do things and being required to adhere to their schedule. I wanted to make my own schedule and let my children pursue their interests so that I knew they were actually “getting it” for a lifetime rather than just enough to just pass a test or grade.
Don’t miss the opportunity to try home-educating your child. You aren’t making a forever decision. Just give it a try so that you won’t ever have the regret of looking back and having to say, “What if we had tried?” You CAN do this!
Proverbs 22:6