Homeschoolers tend to disagree with each other when it comes to who should teach a child what. There are some that feel the role of the homeschooling parent is to teach the child each and everything they need to know. This means imparting their own knowledge to the child and it also means learning difficult subjects before teaching it to the child. This approach to homeschooling is certainly honorable, but not the rule.
I belong to a different school of thought that says teach the child what you know, and even learn a few things in the process. Meanwhile as the subjects get harder and the child’s interests grow wider find other people who can help you teach them. My approach is no less honorable than the previously mentioned approach.
Of course, some disagree. I just received an email that asked (or rather stated) the following:
“You get a tutor or other person even for science? How do you know that he won’t fill your kids’ minds with Darwinism? I think that finding an other person to teach my kids kind of annuls the purpose of homeschooling i.e. to let me be completely in control of my kids’ education. I believe that the subjects that I don’t like, I don’t like them for a good reason. I know that praising God and learning about His words leads you to a glorious place, whereas science leads you into killing people.”
My point in revealing such statements is to discuss that there will be people who strongly disagree with how you homeschool even if they do agree with homeschooling. There will constantly be one struggle or another you will have to deal with when dealing with strangers. While the aforementioned comment is a bit naive, as if I don’t check curriculum, there are people who feel strongly about this and aren’t afraid to tell you. I guess they also defy the school districts and states rules that we teach science as part of a child’s education as well.
I encourage new homeschoolers out there, some who have emailed me lately saying they are hesitant to start homeschooling because of such judgments to remember that you are ultimately in charge of your child’s education whether you homeschool or not. And if you do decide to homeschool, you need to go by your own judgment and not be swayed by the judgmental judgments of others.
*Have a question about homeschooling? Just ask.
* Have you seen the homeschooling curriculum glossary?