“I Can Never Homeschool…”

I recently read an article entitled, “Why I could never homeschool my kids.”

While I really don’t care what other people do with their children (it’s their prerogative) I wanted to offer counterpoints to some of the reasons the author gave.

The author started by saying that homeschooling her children would be detrimental to their relationship because they already do not listen to her when she ask them to go to bed, eat their vegetables, or be nice to one another. So if they were with her “all day,” she would lose her mind.

On this point, she is probably right. Parenting is not easy and if you are not up for the challenge of dealing with those struggles, which are normal, sending your children off to someone else can provide a welcome reprieve.

But did we have children so that someone can raise them? Teach them discipline? Help them to cultivate a brotherly or sisterly love for their siblings?

The author shares that school provides structure. She says her daughter is excited about school and would not be excited if she was her teacher.

Why wouldn’t your daughter be excited to have you as her teacher? You are already the first teacher of your child. They are learning from you everyday. They probably learned that if they don’t listen to you, the repercussions are mild.

They might be another blog post.

To continue, you can do more than the school does. If your daughter loves a subject, you can dive deeper and take the learning outside the classroom. You can give personalized attention that is simply not possible in a classroom of 25 eight year olds. You can go as fast or as slow as your child needs. They are flowers that will grow at their own pace.

She goes on to say that the school provides all those wonderful things free of charge.

But for Black parents, what is the cost of the miseducation? The diminished self-esteem? The numerous micro aggressions experienced by our children on a daily in eurocentric schools? The bullying? The constant attempts to label and drug? The handcuffs? The fights? The teaching to the test?

The author’s next reason was that “I know my children will listen better at school.”

Huh?

So your children are “bad” at home and they are going to magically know how to behave when they leave you? They nap at school, but not with you? They eat veggies at school, but not with you?

I will leave that one alone.

The third reason was that she’s not a teacher. As such, she does not feel competent enough to teach her child “all that she needs to know.”

What does your child need to know? Who says want all children “should know” at a given age? If you are not well versed in the subject, you can find tutors and other resources to help. As a homeschool parent, see yourself as a coach or guide on the side that helps your child navigate their educational journey.

You don’t have to know everything. In fact, because you have forgotten much of what you learned in school should help you realize that force feeding your child with irrelevant information might not be good anyway.

The blog post captures sentiments I have come across a lot over the last few years. Maybe you agree with the author of the blog post. Maybe it raised some questions in your mind.

If you want to read the whole post, go to: https://www.momtastic.com/parenting/760559-heres-why-i-could-never-homeschool-my-kids/

Revolutionary love,

Baba Dr. Brotha Samori Camara