Q&A: I want to homeschool, but am I qualified?

Homeschooling has had a bit of a bad rap lately, and for completely unfounded reasons. Oh, people (those with children in public school) will tell you that your child is missing out, or that he or she will not be properly socially adjusted. They will accuse you of being “religious” (apparently that’s an awful thing) and will belittle your qualifications for teaching your child.

I may not have a teaching degree, but I certainly am qualified to homeschool my child. So are they, and so are you.

Remember the days when you were still pregnant. You, with your feet propped up on the coach, flipping through copies of parenting magazines and child rearing books. You would look up how your baby was developing online almost every day, even though it was the same information day in and day out. You would then look up how your baby would be developing tomorrow, a week from tomorrow, then a MONTH from tomorrow – and you looked it up again the next day.

During our pregnancy we were capable of planning how we were going to educate our children. We made decisions on how to teach them to sit up. We made decisions on how to teach them to drink from a bottle. We made decisions on how to teach them to walk, to talk, to clap their hands – PARENTS taught them those things; not a trained professional.

I will admit that homeschooling does take a bit more effort than enrolling your child in school. It is your responsibility to plan out a curriculum and an appropriate lesson plan in advance. What you need to know is that you are not alone in the planning process. Not only are there a ton of FREE groups and resources in your area that offer homeschooling guidance, but there are many educators at your disposal, curriculum experts, and other families who are successfully homeschooling their children.

All you need to do is to be committed to your child’s success. Once you get into the groove of things, you’ll be surprised just how easy and satisfying homeschooling can be.