What Homeschooling Taught Me |
Like most Americans, my view of homeschooling was framed through the lens of abnormality. My own public-school education was my only frame of reference. Although my own experience wasn’t great, it was familiar. It was the system I knew. As a college professor, I regularly saw the academic gaps my students carried with them from their public-school education. Yet even then, I struggled to imagine an alternative. My instinct was always to fix the existing system, not step outside of it.
And then there was COVID. COVID shutdowns created a shift in my perspective that surprised me. My children were forced home like so many others. During this time, I got to experience their education up close and personal. I found gaps in their education that I did not know existed. I realized that it was taking significantly less time to cover just as much material with more focus and retention.
My son ultimately made the decision for me. He was a particularly strong student at three years old and was not getting the extra attention he needed to keep him engaged in his education. He was becoming disinterested, and I did not want to lose the momentum he came with. So, I decided to take the plunge; this is the word that comes to mind because it felt like jumping off a cliff.
We finished the school year online, and I spent the summer researching different curricula and solidifying........