Thinking of homeschooling but not sure you can afford it? Here’s a few ways you can save money and earn money while homeschooling.
Read More3 Ways to Make Homeschooling Affordable →
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Thinking of homeschooling but not sure you can afford it? Here are 3 ways you can make homeschooling affordable and stay within your household budget.
Read MoreHow to Choose a Good Teacher for a Schoolhouse or Homeschool→
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What is a parent to do who is unable to homeschool their children? My suggestion is to start a small school, as many people are now, but establish them on sound principles, which many people are not doing.
Read MoreWhen We Were Smarter
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The educational system of the Finnish people, arguably one of the best, differs from the US system in some interesting ways.
THE DIFFERENCE
One difference is that their teachers don't just get a teaching credential, but they are also well-educated. Finland requires its teachers to have a master's degree even for teaching kindergarten.
In Finland, the teaching profession is also competitive which implies good pay and job satisfaction.
Juxtapose this to the American system where teacher's earn a bachelor's degree, and 44% of new teachers quit within the first five years. From ill-mannered children and notoriously low pay to the "teaching to the test" mentality of the public-school system, is it any surprise?
But it wasn't always this way.
WHEN AN EDUCATION WAS AN EDUCATION
Your 17th-century tutor was educated in Europe and could teach algebra, geometry, trigonometry, surveying, navigation, french, Latin, Greek, rhetoric, English, belles lettres, logic, philosophy, and other subjects.
Do you know anyone who can teach all these subjects today?!
Someone with this breadth of knowledge has to love learning for learning's sake.
Teachers who love knowledge inspire their students to do the same. When you have a teacher who is so well learned, your children have a role model for reaching greater intellectual heighths.
Your children have a vision of what's possible for themselves.
THE TEACHER
Who your child's teacher is matters. I would venture to say that your child's teacher matters the most.
What your well-educated teacher knows is this: given the right environment and the right instruction, your child can become well-educated too.
It's not going to happen in public school, though, unless your child gets super lucky, at least not to the standard of earlier times. I got somewhat lucky, but it wasn't until college which was a little late.
In college, I had a professor who inspired me to know more, who inspired me to stretch my intellect.
His name was Barrett Culmbach. He was a messed-up philosopher who happened to be a brilliant teacher. One thing he knew was that the education we’d been fed had little to do with education.
When you think about your child’s education, base your expectations for it on earlier standards when our standards were still high; our literacy rates were in the 90th percentile during the time of our one-room community schools.
Today, According to a study by the U.S. Department of Education, 32 million adults in the U.S. can’t read. Amongst those who can read, reading for leisure is at an all-time low–under 30 percent and even lower. Very Orwellian.
“Pick up a fifth-grade math or rhetoric textbook from 1850, and you’ll see that the texts were pitched then on what would today be considered college level. ”
Assume responsibility for your child's education, don't leave it up to the State. And don’t forget the manners, because the State won’t teach those either!
Mediocre and ill-mannered are the new norm. Other than becoming a subversive teacher like John Taylor Gatto, or starting a community school based on the traditional model, the only way to battle Orwell's 1984 is to homeschool.
THE ACTION
Anyone can homeschool for the first few years; it's so easy if you know what to do. If this seems like too much for you, then just teach your child to read before you put him into the public school system.
Teaching him to read first could be the difference between his making it to college or not.
Many children get a rough start in the system by being taught to read too soon. Being expected to keep up with the group is another problem they may face. Not all children learn at the same pace.
Nor are children today raised on good literature that sustains their interest and stimulates their imaginations and intellects. Your choice of reading material for your child is crucial too.
You are the best teacher for your child's early-reading lessons. You love him the most, and you care most about his success.
Teach him to read like mothers used to do in the days when we were smarter.
Are you wondering what kind of books you should read to your children? Get your free list of Ten Books Every Well-Educated Child Should Read.
Don’t miss Elizabeth Y. Hanson’s signature course, The Smart Homeschooler Academy: How to Give Your Child a Better Education at Home.
A veteran homeschooler, she now has two successfully-homeschooled children in college.
How to Homeschool on a Budget (and make some money too)
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Thinking of homeschooling but not sure you can afford it? Here’s a few ways you can save money and earn money while homeschooling.
Read MoreHow to Avoid 3 Critical Mistakes When Teaching Your Child to Read
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Teaching your child to read is arguably the most important skill you will teach. You have to know the right time to teach, the right way to teach and the right method to teach. If you don't get the reading part right, and consequently raise a child who dislikes reading, many doors will shut.
Read MoreWhen My Kitchen is the Classroom
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Most mothers, when they walk into their kitchen and find their iron skillet full of rust (because their son did not dry and oil it properly after use), might be annoyed. Homeschooling mothers, on the other hand, are usually delighted. The discovery becomes another learning opportunity, where the children pile into the kitchen and a discussion of what it is, how it got there, and how it can be prevented follows.
Read MoreAdvice for Homeschoolers
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For some of you this will be your first year of homeschooling, and for some of you it may be one of many, but regardless of whether you are a newcomer or not, a bit of support is always welcome.
Read MoreDid Schoolteachers Really Know All This?
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Here's another gem from the book: "Immigrants who were educated in Europe often became private schoolmasters, advertising in the newspapers that they would teach algebra, geometry, trigonometry, surveying, navigation, french, Latin, Greek, rhetoric, English, belles lettres, logic, philosophy, and other subjects. Wow! Does anyone even know anyone who knows all of this today? If we do, they are usually not found teaching children!
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