Dealing With Opposition When You Start Home Educating.
For some, when they start homeschooling or looking into homeschooling, they can meet with opposition from family and friends. Thankfully it's not something I've had problems with, which could be down to it still being seem as fairly normal in Australia, with school of the air for isolated children still being within living memory. It's not unheard of, however, because it is still an issue which crops up in our local homeschooling Facebook group, now and again.
Often it's not something we can lay to rest until we prove ourselves. My mother-in-law probably wasn’t entirely convinced when we first told her we were homeschooling, but we have a track record proving her concerns unfounded, so she didn't speak out much about it. Expect them to test your children, though, and enjoy it with a smile.
Sometimes the resistance comes from teachers and principals at school if you're pulling them out in order to homeschool. Naturally, these aren't people you need to convince long term, so the best approach can be approaching them in a confident, no nonsense manner.
My advice if you're going to pull them out of school to home educate is to get fully informed first. Make sure you know everything you're entitled to do and approach them with confidence to say that this is what we're doing. Principals and teachers don't always know the homeschooling laws for the state or country you're in, so if you can confidently tell them, then you're in a good position to start with and will be less likely to have them trying to intimidate you. I also find that when they start to try and put you on the back foot, looking them square in the eye and saying nothing will usually unsettle them enough to stop it in its tracks. Most people feel uncomfortable in a silence, especially if they're used to people getting flustered and trying to justify themselves.
The best approach with family and friends may vary, but getting some facts behind you and showing them a confident face will help. If all else fails you can concede that you'll try it for X months and if it doesn't work out they can always go back into school.
So what facts can you pull out to back yourself up?
There are anecdotes of university professors saying that homeschooled students manage university studies better than schooled students, because they've learnt how to manage their own learning and use initiative, whereas schooled children are used to needing permission to do anything and waiting to be told what to do. Then here's an article about how homeschooled students often get better test results and have more degrees than their schooled peers.
If you want to get them thinking, pull out the fact that schools have only existed as they are since the industrial age and we were still making advances for generations before that. There are plenty of famous people who have been homeschooled.
Then there's the fact that with the internet, we now have access to a huge array of knowledge at our fingertips. Way more than all the teachers in one school could know. So if they try to insult your intelligence or ability, tell them that as long as they can work a computer your children will be able to quickly surpass you. After all, the goal is for the student to surpass the master. We wouldn't advance if we only matched our teachers.
Have you had naysayers you've had to deal with when you decided to homeschool? How did you deal with them and did they come around in the end? Share your story with us at @HomeEdders.
maybe they got more points in home because they can have too much focus in studying. Well in my case I don't believe it, going school like doing a review is much more reliable. Just my opinion anyway..
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Are you referring to the article on test results? Tests are always carried out in the same, controlled, environment, no matter how you're educated. Here we have to go into the local school for them to do tests. Then when it comes to degrees, those are provided by the universities, the same as everyone else.
It sounds like you're saying too much focus is a bad thing? Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you there.
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hmmm what I meant was about maybe you can focus in house but the learning in school is different. Like for example about self-study, it's very different from someone teaching you will. I think I was wrong in understanding that article, sorry
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I mostly agree with this guy. Spending your childhood/teen years memorising a bunch of stuff does seem kind of pointless these days, unless it's stuff you do actually need to remember.
https://www.facebook.com/EducateInspireChange.org/videos/938951569791802/
I saw that guy recently on an Inventorium advert. I also agree with him, but like you say there are some circumstances where memorizing helps (apparently memorizing the periodic table helps when you're studying chemistry). Also here a degree is highly regarded by a lot of employers still. Hubby doesn't have a degree, so he's often overlooked for many management jobs because of it. Yet because he's highly experienced and qualified, he's considered over qualified for lower level jobs. Catch 22. It's becoming more of a problem now that unemployment is so high. Previously he could do management jobs on lower pay, because of his lack of degree. Now they can pay people with degrees to do the job for lower pay, because they need the work.
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Nice write up @minismallholding with great tips. I can definitely attest to others “testing” my children. When they do, I definitely sit back with a proud smile. People are always asking me the age of my children because they can’t believe how well managed, respectable and intelligent they are.
I love looking at statistics because they paint a picture to what’s really going on. Although we home educators get a lot of flak the proof is in the pudding. Once the naysayers in my life seen my children in action (using their brains and creativity etc.) there’s nothing much more they can say. How can you argue with what you see?
We’ve been so programmed to think there is only one way of doing things. We as parents have to find the best way that suites our children and also ways that do not contradict with our beliefs and values. Knowing what you’re entitled to do is definitely important. Gathering all this information before hand is great advice.
You got here before me <3 I was thinking of you when I made my comment.
It's a shame that it only takes such a short period of time for a new norm to settle in and previous ways of doing things to be completely forgotten. Homeschooling brings back so many things that were once so important. The cohesion as a family and all ages interacting and supporting one another in a way they wouldn't are school. Some of the things people often comment on is the way that homeschooled children will interact across the ages and don't necessarily gravitate towards their age groups like schooled children do. My girls are friends with two other homeschooled sister's and my youngest connects better with the eldest, who is nearly four years older than her and my eldest connects more with the youngest, who is a year younger than her and a year older than my youngest.
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Yes! The interaction amongst all of my children with their varying ages is very beneficial. My younger children are doing more, understanding more and saying more than the average child their age and it’s mainly because they are learning from their older siblings . Sometimes when I have to step away from our schoolroom, I come back and find my 9 year old daughter helping my 6 year old son with his work and it just warms my heart.
I think it’s a beautiful thing when our children interact and connect across the ages. We shouldn’t put them in a box based on how people think they should act. I love that my children can hold conversations with people their age all the way up to elders and they enjoy it! 😊 It really depends on their comfort zone how they interact with others and I wouldn’t dare push my kids to interact with only their age group. I learned so much growing up by being around all kinds of age groups.
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Heya, some of the @steemitmamas are homeschooles and thet seem to do very well.
I did homeschool for a minute too, when I was living away from my home city.
Thanks for the article.
Keep up the good work! I taught my 2 children at home and when it came time for them to go to University, the Universities were thrilled to accept them.
We did testing every couple of years, but I wasn't testing my children as much as I was testing myself. Were there areas where we needed to focus on more? I always had a little doubt in the back of my mind, are we learning enough? Did I miss something? We hired a tutor a couple of times, once for Algebra and twice for High School writing skills. I wanted to ensure they had the skills necessary when they did go off to University. I did not need to worry. My children graduated with honors and both have a love of learning that continues with them today, and yes, they both have far exceeded me academically.
The idea that always seems to come up " How will they be socialized?" We had so many extra curricular events that we participated in. Just to name a few: pottery, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, piano, choir, soccer, chess club, basket weaving, many events thru 4-H and church activities. My daughter wanted to play tennis, so she started a tennis club at the park. We helped at the summer kids program at the local library. There are a-lot of learning and volunteering opportunities out there if you look for them.
Enjoy the time with your children! Best wishes :)
The socialising argument always made me laugh. Maybe there's an imagine that you shut your children in the house and never let them out, if you home school.
There's always that second guessing of yourself as well, isn't there? It probably doesn't help that "standards" have been created by the schooling system that should be met by certain ages. Yet most of the schooling system fails to meet those standards while as homeschooling parents we feel we are failing if we don't meet them. Like you, I have found tests useful to see what areas to work on, however.
My eldest has just started uni. She's very academically inclined, so she's enjoying the challenge. My youngest is more hands on, a right brain learner as I'm just finding out.
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Well my school kid is a good and bad example as while she’s definitely not getting better test results than her peers (my kids don’t test well... except in gymnastics 🤣) or even better results in general, she is however apparently “a perfect student” according to her teachers 🤣
Haven’t really had to deal with naysayers. Think my evil bitch face puts people off and family usually knows better than to argue with me about things I’m reasonably sure about 😅
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I love the look on that rooster's face. It's like it's straight out of a cartoon.
That's actually a hen. Some breeds have bigger combs and wattles, so it's easy to get that confused, though. It was a hot day and she was panting, but it does look quite expressive! 😆
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