Many people tell me that they could never homeschool. They always have a very good and valid reason whey they could not do it. I understand what they are saying because many of the same reasons nearly kept me from homeschooling. I almost didn’t homeschool because I felt alone. I almost didn’t homeschool because I didn’t understand my options. I almost didn’t homeschool because I thought my family would not approve. I almost didn’t homeschool because I didn’t think I had the patience to do it. I also almost didn’t homeschool because I was afraid of the responsibility.
Let’s face it. Homeschooling is serious business. When you homeschool your kids, you take the responsibility of educating them into your own hands. This means you take their future into your own hands. Homeschoolers no longer have the cushion to say that the school system dis-served their children. Homeschoolers cannot blame teachers when a child does not understand. All the blame for lack of education lies solely on the shoulders of the parents. Any parent who is not willing to take blame along with credit may want to reconsider homeschooling.
Fortunately, I have a family history that showed me where the responsibility of raising and educating a child ultimately laid. I am from a very large extended family with lots of ‘steps’. My parents (stepfather, and mother) raised nine kids in all, and helped raise several others as well. My parents were overwhelmed to say the least. The older kids in the family did extremely well in school and got a decent start in life. My parents were very proud and also very willing to take credit for these successes. The middle groups of kids, me included, did well, in school, but not as well as the older kids. They took credit for the good, and blamed teachers and schools for the bad, in spite of the fact that mom was a teacher. The last two children who made up the younger group failed miserably in every area. There are many reasons why this happened in my estimation. First, my parents were tired. Second, the middle group was essentially raising the younger group as both parents were working. We did our best, but we were kids. Finally, it was plain to see that my parents did not accept blame for their problems, not punish them for their misdeeds. As my parents saw it, they had done just as good a job as they had done with their oldest kids, but the system had failed them.
Many people don’t get to see such examples first hand, but I did. I grew up in it. So I knew that it did not matter where the children went to school, or who taught them. I knew it was still ultimately up to the parents to take responsibility and even the blame when their children fail. Therefore, it didn’t matter how scared I was of messing up, the blame was mine either way, and so I had better suck it up, because ultimately my kids are my responsibility anyway.