General Articles: Responding to Critics of Home School
By Mimi Rothschild
When you decide to take your children out of traditional school and put them in a home school situation, you are likely to run into all sorts of opposition and bizarre questioning from everyone who knows you. Friends, family, even people you barely know may demand explanations and throw in their two cents about your decision to home school your child. However, you know that your reasons for taking your children out of school are correct and your loved ones will eventually come around. Maybe, they will even come to think that your decision to home school your child was a good idea.
That being said, perhaps the best way to deal with a naysayer is directly. If you don't know a person well, or you believe they are just being nosy, you don't really owe them an explanation of your decision to home school your child. Your family and closer friends are another matter. The most common objection to your decision to home school your child might be that your child won't get enough socialization if you home school. To this objection, point out that you are not moving to a deserted island; your child, in addition to home school, will still be participating in music lessons, dance classes, swim teams, girl scouting or whatever other activities she enjoys. Also, point out that lots of people decide to home school their children, and there are a lot of resources for meeting other kids in home school and setting up play dates and group activities.
Another commonly heard objection to home school is that the parent doesn't know enough about a subject to teach it. While your child is young, home schooling in most subjects, with the possible exception of foreign languages, won't be much of a problem. As they get older, point out to critics of your plan to home school that there are all sorts of resources for home school. Tutors and online telecourses can bridge the gap between what you are comfortable teaching in home school and what your child needs to know.
Whatever your reasons for considering home school for your child, there will be people who object for one reason or another. However, if you are confident in your decision and have done your research into home school properly, there should be no reason why you need to get defensive. You may even help convince another person that home school is a better alternative for a child.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling mother, writer, children's rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of home education company Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of 28 years reside with their 8 children right outside Philadelphia, PA.
Rothschild launched Learning By Grace, Inc. because she believed that our nation's public school system has failed parents and students. Learning By Grace, Inc. offers online education through a multimedia-rich curriculum to PreK-12 children across the country and throughout the world.
An accomplished author, Rothschild has written books regarding education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Homeschooling News Café Blog consists of the most current and relevant education news.Electronic reproduction of this article is permitted if content is published unchanged, appropriate credit is given, and the article title links to corresponding article webpage.
