>>i have always been a a poor student myself and am scared therefore to homeschool. would you say that being “smart” is a requisite to homeschooling?<<
Does being a poor student mean that you’re not smart? Absolutely not – I reject that! Similarly, I reject the idea that the kind of intelligence needed to do well in school is more valuable than other kinds of intelligence. There are many kinds of intelligence and every single person is uniquely gifted in some way. Many people did fantastically well in school but weren’t successful in life, career, relationships…. School based success is very limited.
Having said that, I understand that the question is being asked because of the insecurity that as a poor student, you might not be able to meet your child’s academic needs. Parents who haven’t completed their high school education (sometimes only up to 8th grade education) have successfully homeschooled their children past the point that their education was completed. If they needed to know what their children needed to learn, there’s no way they could have been successful. I can say with confidence that you can go beyond your school experience and support your child/ren effectively and watch them thrive while homeschooling.
How so? There are a number of options. First of all, there are other resources out there except for you – you don’t have to know everything! There are books, dvd programs, classes, mentors, and paid resource people. I love the library; it’s free and has a huge variety of materials for you and your children to access. Many who did do well in high school still don’t remember the information well enough to effectively teach it to their children. I have two children homeschooling high school now, and their interests and my strengths don’t always line up. But they aren’t limited by me and my knowledge base – I’ve encouraged them to develop independent learning skills, and they’ve been able to explore their interests and gain skills beyond me. (They already know not to bother asking me for help with math at this point! :))
Second of all, a fun aspect of homeschooling is that you can learn along with your children! There’s so much to know out there and it’s ridiculous to think that anyone covered it all in four years as a teenager, no matter how high their report card grades were. My kids are constantly sharing new things they learn with me, and as I learn new information, I share it with them. It’s invigorating and exciting to expand your knowledge base, and being a parent doesn’t mean it’s too late to learn more. It’s never too late!
What’s more important than your academic success in school is your willingness to tune into your child’s needs and find ways to support him. It’s not really any different than what a parent who was ‘school smart’ needs to do. Don’t be afraid, and don’t think you’re unusual – we all have areas we feel inadequate about. You can homeschool and you can do a great job!
(This post is part of the Carnival of Homeschooling.)
Avivah
This is a great post!
While reading through the fist part, my thought was “and heck, even if I DID well in school, it doesn’t mean I REMEMBER Trig!” … and then, of course, you addressed that, too. 🙂
Thanks for contributing to the Carnival!
Probably one of the comments I hear most when I tell someone I homeschool my kids is, “Oh! I could never do that! I was terrible in (fill in the blank)!”
So sad that our society is brainwashed into thinking you need some sort of certification to teach a particular age or subject. We have a library and the internet. It has been more valuable in my own learning to know how to look up information, than to store it all in my head!
My husband and I are both really enjoying that we are getting a chance to systematically learn/relearn everything with my son(s). How often do we get the chance to brush-up on the rules behind dikduk, for example? So far, I think that learning with my children has been part of the joys of homeschooling (the other joys are for a different post).
The government schools have programmed us to think that only the “experts” should educate our children. YOU as a parent are the expert. No one knows your child or understands his needs better than his parent, regardless of their level of education.
I’m posting this here in the hope that you’ll have time to answer/include it in some later post.
We seriously considered homeschooling ds6 when he wasn’t deemed ready to be going into 1st grade or but the special ed kindergarden had no space for him. B”h he did go in a very good special-ed 1rst grade class and we are very happy with the results.
I think about homeschooling every so often but it’s a rather complicated process where I live and I’m afraid I wouldn’t have the resources he gets in his special ed class (therapy, special activities…).
Am I wrong in thinking that I can’t give him these special things? (the ‘being smart” problem does not bother me)