But I don’t have a teaching degree...

When my family first decided to take our children out of school, our first thought wasn’t the common “what about socialization?,” our first thought was more so along the lines of knowing HOW will we teach our kids.

When I was in college, I had many frustrating classes taught by professors and post docs who were BRILLIANT in their fields of research, but were absolutely LOUSY at conveying basic information to other people. I remember asking on of my physics professor to explain something to me, and he stuttered his way through an explanation until he was red in the face. Then he asked if I understood, and I said yes just for the sake of giving him a break. He wasn’t trying to not be helpful to me, but he couldn’t formulate the information that he could understand perfectly in a way to educate me.

I am sure that there is a benefit to learning the theory behind education. There is a benefit to learning how different learners think. There is a benefit to spending time and energy not only knowing your field of study, but also how to convey that information to another individual effectively.

So, when people come to me and say they would homeschool, however they don’t have a teaching degree, I am very understanding of this concern.  If your children can’t learn from you, then this is a very serious problem. It may prevent you from being able to homeschool your children on your own. But there are ways around it.

I spoke with two other mothers today about teaching our children to read. One thing we found in common was that our children reached a maturity to read on their own around the age 8. Another thing we found in common was that it took some trial and error, different curriculum to get them to the point that they could read.

Here are some suggestions for parents who are thinking about homeschooling, and have this concern:

1. You must be resourceful. Some parents are able to afford private tutors to teach subjects that they don’t understand. Or they get other family members to do it. However, in the age of technology, there are online classes for nearly every subject for free or paid, and also cyber schools. In addition, there are paid subscription programs and local opportunities at science centers and even universities that help teach homeschooled students a variety of topics.

2. Learn how your children think. Spend time to analyze how they learn, and evaluate them to figure out if they are learning and retaining the material that you are teaching them. If they aren’t learning, change your approach or learning materials.

3. Find curriculum that meets your needs. Don’t dive into a curriculum and keep it just because you bought it. If it doesn’t work, change it. Learn how to go with the flow.

A lot of my teaching friends find that being a teacher gets in the way of their ability to flow with educating their children. School can be vastly different from homeschooling. Sometimes a fresh slate, so to speak, is good when educating your children at home.

Our family views education as simply raising our children. We don’t need a degree to know what’s best for our children. The daily educating of our children includes training them in righteousness/Torah, teaching them how to be people of a good character, and teaching them how to read, write, and excel in every area of life.

-T.E.A. 2018