Homeschooling is not Quarantine School

One of the best parts about being your child’s teacher is being able to help them love to learn.

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, many families got an unexpected “free 3 month trial” of homeschooling this year. In my opinion, however, the four best elements of teaching your students at home were missing from the quarantine imposed version. After teaching our two children at home for the past 14 years, I would love to encourage those who are intrigued by homeschooling with what I have learned and why I think it can be the best education option for your students.

Learning Style Focus

This gift will enable them to pursue a lifetime of learning, not just the ability to earn grades. You were your child’s first teacher. You taught them how to brush their tiny little teeth, how to tie shoes, how to be careful in a parking lot… you know them and how they learn better than anyone else.

For younger children, you probably already know how to express something they need to know in order for them to truly grasp it, whether that be by repetition, song, activity, or pictures.

For older students, there are tests available online which help them identify what kind of learning suits them best. For every age, this enables them to learn new things quickly and without frustration, for the most part, because it suits them.

A teacher with many students can not tailor lessons for each child. And remote learning is even more limited in this regard. Imagine taking the subject your child is least fond of and making it less painful. What if they find out they actually love math, but they didn’t know it because the way it was being taught was not how they learn best? I have watched my daughter take this knowledge about herself and her learning style to college with her. It’s a huge asset to have in that environment.

Freedom to Choose

Another gift for the homeschooling family is being able to choose not only what curriculum you want to use to suit your student, but also what extras will best round off that teaching. You get to pick which museums, field trips, and subjects you want to dig into and when. Sometimes the best field trips and subjects are offered to very young students in traditional schools, long before they are ready to enjoy what they are seeing and learning. As the teacher, you can decide what will suit them. I can’t tell you how many young children I have watched be paraded through a museum, hot little hands gripped to a rope, not hearing a word from the docent at the front of the line, and not caring. As the teacher, you can stop where they want to stop and move on where they want to move on. How many schools will even be able to participate in these extensions of learning in the coming year? Homeschoolers can choose to see what is available and when.

Unplugged Learning

Many teachers have done an amazing job of keeping children moving forward via online tools in these past months. It’s been near heroic if you ask me. But it’s not ideal for anyone to be tied to a screen for long periods of time, especially younger students. As the homeschool teacher you can decide how much online learning suits your students. When the virus hit, because I was already my child’s main teacher, not a lot had to change. We do have a couple of classes that he takes with other teachers that moved online, but it wasn’t overwhelming for our son. His Sophomore year of high school can be completed as if the virus hadn’t come. If it had happened when my children were elementary ages, there wouldn’t have been any need to be online at all. Good books, puzzles, hands-on projects, dancing, artwork, music, science projects, and all that we did during the week would have continued without interruption if that was my desire.

Biblical Integration

Lastly, as a Christian parent, one of the parts about teaching at home that I cherish the most is being able to teach from a biblical worldview. You are able to make studying God’s Word the first part of every day, not rushed or squished in. As the teacher, you can stop and talk longer about something that your student wants to know about God and His Word. When something comes up in the day, you can talk about it from a spiritual perspective and guide your students into a personal relationship with Christ. If you homeschool with Heritage Christian School you have the prayers and support of the other parents as well. The classes they take at class day will be from a Christian perspective and with other believers to help bring seeds of faith to maturity.

I hope you will prayerfully consider my favorite parts about homeschooling and ask other experienced parents what they love about it. Just like a good recipe, we each make it our own for the benefit of our families. If God is leading you onto this path, He will provide all that you need to accomplish it.

About the Author: Janet Morris has home-taught for all of her children’s lives, from tooth brushing to SATs. She and her husband Wes have two children: Kaylee, a Biola University student, and Garrett, a soon to be high school junior. They have utilized Heritage Christain School for 14 years and counting.