Homeschooling put my child Behind! | How to Go Forward

Do you feel as if your child(ren) are behind and homeschooling is the blame? Or do you feel as if what you are doing in your homeschool isn’t enough to move forward; has the year been super slow for you and you haven’t reached even half the textbook yet? Here’s a few parental concerns from our emails:

“I feel like I’ve changed curriculum too much this year.”

“It’s been TWO years, when will we find our groove?”

“We’ve switched math curriculums so much; I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing, and my son will be behind.”

“Can I even conquer high school homeschooling?”

I can assure you that if you have these questions, whether new to homeschooling or a veteran, you are not alone!

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Homeschooling Put My Child Behind

The beauty of homeschooling is that you are free to structure and present your child with an education that’s fit for them. Your child is not in competition to comply with compulsory schooling. Your homeschool belongs to you and your family. It’s your right to choose how and when you want to make things happen.

There is no way homeschooling can put your child behind, in fact they will have gained more at home than those in compulsory schooling, even on your worst of days. I love the way this homeschool parent explained it:

“I hear this often from new homeschool parents:
Parent: “I’m afraid my child is behind?”
Me: “Behind whom?”
Parent: “How long should the school day take?”
Me: “Every waking moment is a learning opportunity.”
 Parent: ”What about standardized testing?” 
Me: “ You spend every day instructing your child. You will know what they are deficient and proficient in without a test.”

These Questions

Unless your state requires testing for homeschool students, you really don’t have anything to worry about.

“These questions are questions that are asked by those of us who were a product of institutionalized learning. They are questions we have been conditioned to ask because we were indoctrinated to believe that the acquisition of knowledge can only occur within time constraints and that acquisition must be evaluated by a specific test created by “experts”.

The result is not “knowledge” at all, but simply a regurgitation of facts that have been memorized for the sole purpose of acquiring a proficient score on a test. I know this because at one time, I asked all these questions. The reality is this will steal the joy and the love of learning from your homeschool. There is a major difference between knowledge and education and often the later has no parallels with the former.”

Tiffany Boyd –A Homeschooling Parent

Regurgitated Learning

Not only will the actual knowledge not “stay” in your child’s mind when they learn like this, but the anxiety to hurriedly absorb the next subject for the next test.

It’s no wonder many compulsory students are depressed. In my research, an estimated 3.1 million adolescents aged 12 to 17, in the United States, were recorded to have at least one major depressive episode in 2016 alone. That’s approximately 12.8% of the U.S. population in that age group.

You can read more in this article from Newport Academy, titled “Does School Cause Teen Depression.” This is just research on teens, younger children have suffered from the same fate, and many parents are homeschooling for that very reason.

How To Go Forward Homeschooling

Homeschool parents, it’s time to move forward from this way of thinking. You are more than qualified to teach your own child and you can’t “mess” them up.

If you were the product of a homeschooling family, you know the beauty that a home education can bring. But if you were not and this homeschool journey is new to you, it’s okay, we learn as we go!

My very own homeschool journey started out in confusion too. My husband and I were the products of “institutionalized learning” and our calling to homeschool and help parents was God ordained.

Remember “Grace”

Many parents who contact us, have just taken their students out of public school or some other compulsory schooling, and feel stressed. They wonder if they need to “finish” off the year with the same curriculum their kids were used to doing in school.

The short answer, no. You can’t move forward if you go backwards, and you can’t mirror the public-school teachers. You will be better, because only you know what your child needs.

You will not always be “perfect” nor will your homeschool, but you WILL be there to teach and educate your children, the way that WORKS for them.

So, give yourself GRACE, the beginning will be hard! And we’re here to help however we can.

Your Homeschool Is How You Make It

What works for your family? Are you a stay-at-home parent, or do you work from home? Take all these into consideration when starting out on YOUR homeschool journey.

Your homeschool will look different than anyone else’s, if comparing homeschools causes you great stress, DON’T!

Give yourself GRACE and plant yourself where God wants you to be right now, in your OWN homeschool journey.

The Homeschooling Journey

After ten years of homeschooling, entering our eleventh, I can personally say NOTHING ever looks, feels, or seems the same as it was the year prior. You grow and advance every year.

It’s a beautiful thing! Just like your children, you too are growing and learning.

So fellow homeschooling parents and grandparents, don’t worry. Go before God and ask Him to help you structure your homeschool, whether that be unschooling, using the Charlotte Mason method, unit studying, whatever it is, God can help you figure it all out.

Homeschooling NEVER Puts Your Child Behind.

Quite the opposite; it propels them forward at their own pace, with unique experiences and accomplishments, that radiates through your entire family!

We hope this article has inspired you, you got this!

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