Homeschoolers Learn Without a Teacher

Homeschoolers Learn Without a Teacher?

When you proudly announce that you’ll be homeschooling, you expect some people to be supportive of your choice. But there are times when people react in ways you might not expect. For me, this happened when a close relative brought up my dislike of math. “How will he learn math when he gets into more advanced stuff? I remember you didn’t do so well in that subject.”

Thanks for that reminder! While it’s true I didn’t particularly enjoy math, I was never bad at it, I just didn’t have much motivation to excel in math. I’m sure when my children need to learn algebra, much of what I learned will have been long forgotten anyway!

So, how will my children learn things I don’t clearly grasp?

Many ways, actually!

I’m Not Qualified to be a Teacher

First of all, I don’t necessarily consider myself to be their “teacher”. What little college I did attend had nothing to do with child development or anything academic. I know many people shy away from homeschooling because they don’t feel qualified to teach their children and maybe that’s true in a technical sense. I certainly fall into that category.

Children Learn What They Want to Learn

I’ll let you in on a little secret: most of what my children tend to learn occurs of their own volition. Take reading, for example. They learned to read because they wanted to read. It was something that naturally interested them. I am sure that the environment my husband and I have created facilitated the process, but I think some people have the notion that I sat steely-eyed with them for hours on end drilling them with flash cards and such. I didn’t.

Learning Outside the Box

Since I started homeschooling my children, I’ve learned to think outside the box. It seems to me that homeschoolers find a way to learn what they need to learn, and I don’t think very many homeschooling moms and dads are credentialed teachers (some are, but that’s beside the point).

Other People

I have a spouse. He excels in different areas than I do. Combined, we can cover quite a bit of ground with our children. Really! I’m sure this is true in your situation too (if you have a spouse). Other family members can be great resources for learning as well. My mother in law, for example, speaks fluent French. I was hung up on pronouncing some titles of paintings when my daughter took an interest in Monet’s artwork, so I referred her to her Grammy. Grammy was delighted to help out. (This is not to say that she’d be willing to teach a whole new language to her grandchild, but she’s certainly available to help). I’m sure if you thought about it, there are people in your life who would be more than willing to share their knowledge and love of a certain topic with your children!

Another example: there is an astronomy club in our community. On a certain day every month, they set up their telescopes at a local nature preserve and welcome anyone to come and see the night sky up close. You should see these guys! Such passion for astronomy, and they are more than happy to answer any and all questions anyone might have about various celestial bodies. They can be teachers too! You’d be amazed at all the wonderful, helpful people you encounter during a field trip or a visit to an attraction.

Co-ops

Ah, the co-op. Parents love to pool their collective knowledge and share it with your children. And you can share your knowledge with their children! You might meet a homeschooling parent who is a skilled musician to teach your child (or a group of children) to play violin. Maybe you can share your literary knowledge with a group of kids.

The Internet

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s a lot happening online these days! Lots of free (and even more paid) educational content can be found on just about any topic. One major resource that comes to mind is Khan Academy. If you want to know how my child will learn trigonometry, here it is, folks. I’m serious! They have content starting at basic kindergarten skills, ranging all the way to different kinds of calculus. (There are different kinds?) Recently, they’ve added content on subjects from science to economics to arts and humanities. I don’t have space to address all the available resources in this post, but they are there, in a multitude of topics, for any age.

Apprenticeships/Internships/Volunteer Opportunities

Older students can learn things hands-on. That’s part of the beauty of homeschooling. Children have the opportunity and time to go and seek out ways to learn in real life settings. In his popular TedxTalk, 13 year old Logan LaPlante describes an internship that he worked at where he was able to learn more about designing apparel. Depending on your area, and age restrictions, it may be more of a challenge to find some opportunities, but I’m sure they are there, if you take the time to look and network in your community.

If you are called to homeschooling, there are a number of ways for your child to learn whatever it is they need to learn! The whole world is their school!

If you homeschool, share some ways that your child has learned something you didn’t know!

 Becky is a wife of eight years and stay at home mom to three young children. She aspires to encourage women in Biblical truth on her blog, Happy Christian Home