This post is another one that consists of my answers to questions that were asked of me during an interview process for someone else that was writing a book. As soon as it’s published, I’ll be sure and provide more details, but for now. Here are more of my thoughts on our own homeschool journey. I’m particularly interested in hearing what thoughts you may have on my comments related to public schools and education in our communities.
Tell me a little about yourself. How many children do you homeschool, and what are their ages?
I’m pushing 40 this year and parenting two children with my wife of 15 years. My son is 14 (Honeymoon baby) and our daughter is 11. I was public schooled myself in a very small town in Kentucky. We are in our 4th year of homeschooling our children.
Where are you from? (State or Province is fine).
I grew up in southern Kentucky and graduated from college in Ohio. My wife has lived her entire life in Indianapolis, IN where we still live. We’re currently looking at relocating to Nashville, TN.
Do you identify with any “minority,religious or ethnic group” you would like to disclose, in order to show support for others who may feel alone in this journey?
I don’t think so. I feel like we’re pretty much the typical Christian American family. The only minority group we’re really in is “Christian” and “homeschoolers”.
What was your initial reason for homeschooling?
There wasn’t a single “straw” that “broke the camel’s back” with us. More like a small bale of hay that kept gnawing at us that caused us to be unsatisfied with just about everything we saw in the public school system and the desire to want more for our kids and our family than what we were getting in the school system.
Have you come across any more reasons to continue with this choice since you began?
I don’t think there have been any new reasons for us, just a continued strengthening and affirmation of the original reasons we discovered initially.
What are your thoughts on the public school system?
I think the public school system has an incredible task and hurdle in front of it. I believe the biggest problem is we haven’t come to an agreement in our society of what it actually means to be “educated”. The challenge after that is we’ve put too many demands on our schools and teachers without a confirmed target for them to aim for in their classrooms. I believe there should be some agreed standards set at a national level, but the operation and execution to meet those goals should be done at the local level.
Do you experience any struggles that the average homeschooler may not?
I’m not sure, what’s the average homeschooler struggling with these days? I’m guessing we’re pretty normal.
What is the best thing about homeschooling that you and your family have experienced so far?
For us I believe it’s the freedom and flexibility to try new things and spend time together as a family. With my job I’m able to work from just about anywhere as long as I have an Internet connection. That’s allowed us to travel and enjoy a variety of experiences as a family that’s also been very educational for all of us as well. We’re hoping to visit a couple of places like Gettsyburg and Colonial Williamsburg in the near future.
Do you base your homeschooling on any of the following educational philosophies: Waldorf, Montessori,Reggio,Classical,Traditional,Unit Study, Project Based, Un-schooling,Road-schooling, Scripture Based
One of the things we love about homeschooling is the ability for us to mix ‘n match strategies and methods across curriculae and other resources.
Are you in a single or double parent household?
My wife and I both participate in the homeschooling of our children. My wife does the majority of the effort by comparison. I focus more on helping with math and science and supporting as much as I can in the other subjects.
There has been a lot of assumption about the income level of homeschoolers being very high. Is this your experience?
I sure wish it were! Since we got pregnant with our son on our honeymoon, and my wife’s desire and my support of her desire to be a stay-at-home-mom, we’ve lived on a single income for the majority of our marriage. I lost my full-time job at the end of 2013 and currently looking for employment. Even in this time in our lives, the importance we put on continuing to homeschool our children has kept us from looking at forcing my wife to go back into the workforce. That will be an absolute last resort.
What are your thoughts on public schools?
See previous answers, but I’ll also add this. I know that homeschooling is NOT for everyone. We need public schools and I want them to succeed. As I said before, we need to put education at the forefront of the purpose for our schools and get politics completely out of the classroom unless it’s for a course in government, civics and the Constitution.
Do you feel that the option to homeschool is discriminatory against low income and/or single parent households?
I’m not sure I’d consider it discriminatory. It’s just a reality. Obviously it will be much harder for a single-parent family or a family where both parents have to work due to financial strains. I think the biggest challenge is who looks after the children while the one or both parents are working during the day when the kids are “supposed to be in school”.
What does an average homeschooling day look like for you?
My family has all been night owls since Day 1. So, our normal school day starts a little later than most people would consider average I’m sure. But our kids focus on their school work and studies and are usually done towards the middle of the afternoon. Once school work is done they work on their chores and other responsibilities. Rinse and repeat. We also try to be aware of how to make any opportunity outside of the normal school day an educational experience. In our state, we just need to prove 180 days of instruction. My opinion is if I’m not hitting 365 days of instruction a year, I’m failing my kids.
Do you feel you are judged negatively for your decision to homeschool?
I’m not sure if I’d categorize it as “negatively”, more just odd and not understanding what it really means and all the details. There have been occasions where I’ve been surprised at the lack of support we’ve received from family and friends. We have a number of friends who are teachers and I think some of them felt offended that our disproval of the public school system was also a direct disproval of them as teachers. Quite the contrary honestly, if I could guarantee 70% of the teachers and administration were as interested in my kids education as my friends were, I’d probably not have as much of an issue with public schools. But our other concern is the decisions that are being made in public education that are out of the scope of influence they have as well.
Any further comments you would like to share?
I’d just say that I hope your book gets shared and promoted to more dads. I think there are lots of dads who just aren’t quite sure how to be involved as best they can. I think for many dads, as with other areas of the family, they believe their only role in the effort is to fund it. Their involvement is to work as much as possible to be the provider for their family’s endeavors. That’s important, absolutely. But many forsake the need their family has for them to be there physically, emotionally and intellectually… not just financially.