Yesterday I worked as a local elections officer (I do this several times a year). Besides the 16 hour day dealing with hundreds of people, many who can be quite hostile, one thing that always happens when I work elections is that I end up telling all of my elections coworkers that I homeschool. The reason this happens is that everyone causally asks each person questions as the day begins to get an idea of whom they are working with.
Fortunately, yesterday’s experience was a bit different from the usual. Normally, I end up trying to defend homeschooling to at least one person in the group. I end up explaining our unique situation and why we homeschool. I also have to explain why we have not intention to do public school again, even for high school. That did not happen yesterday. Maybe people really are becoming less hostile to homeschooling, in my state anyway.
This time, the discussion with a couple of people was the need for all parents to take the kind of involvement that a homeschooler takes whether the children are schooled at home or not. As one co-worker said to me after discussing that we have a college-bound plan for my son, “it is a shame when you ask high school parents and their children what their college plans are, they do not know”. In fact, the parents will say that they are waiting for their kids to decide what they want to do with their lives and for them to make a decision on college. They treat their kids like adults when it comes to planning their future, even though they cease to plan like adults.
As a homeschooling parent, I am acutely aware of my kid’s strengths and weaknesses. I know that my kids have amazing capabilities to learn and understand difficult and complex topics. I am also aware of their inability to look into the future, make plans, and follow through. This is the nature of kids. This is why we take care of them until they are 18 years old, and sometimes into their 20’s. They have not had the life experiences necessary to know how important planning for college and life work is. We do because we have already lived these experiences.
So my message to all parents is that whether you homeschool or not, you have to stay engaged regardless of how intelligent your kids are, regardless of how tall your kids are, and regardless of how mature your kids are. Even if you are past the point of dictating your kids’ lives, it is still your responsibility to question, encourage, and even to nag on a daily basis.
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