Home School Online

While some families know from the start that they want to homeschool, others arrive somewhat “accidentally”. These are families who had initially put their children in traditional schools. Then, “something” happens. Perhaps this “something”  happens over and over or different “things” happen. Sometimes there are a few classroom or school changes but it still is not working. The problems can be with other students, the school culture, the academics, or the faculty and staff. But over time, the parents realize that traditional schools are not working and they become convinced that the available schools are unacceptable.

I Never Thought I Would Homeschool…

Although many are people of strong faith, these families start to homeschool not for religious or philosophical reasons, but as problem solvers trying to do the best for their children.

“I never thought I would homeschool, but after trying my son in several different schools, we were at our wit’s end. Our son was miserable in school and doing badly.

“After one particularly bad day when he came home in tears and humiliated, we agreed to try homeschooling for the rest of third grade. That was two years ago and it has really worked out for us”.

One Particularly Conflicted Mother Got me to Thinking….

There was one particular conversation that got me thinking about these families and the process of suddenly jumping into homeschooling. One mother who had called to find out about our curriculum, felt it important to explain to me that:

“I don’t really believe in homeschooling and I don’t want to do it, but I have to because of my children and the way schools worked. I only want to do the best thing for my child…”

I was somewhat speechless trying to think how that made her different from other homeschooling parents, or any parents for that matter.

Many Families Start on the Homeschooling Path in a Bumpy Conflicted Manner

I noticed that she is far from being the only one who followed a bumpy conflicted path into homeschooling. I coined the “Accidental Homeschooler” term to describe those starting to homeschool motivated by a process of elimination, not because homeschooling is their primary choice.

Are Most Homeschoolers “Accidental”?

While we believe that homeschooling stastistics are poor given the size and signficance of the movement (Is 5% of the K12 population believable?), I believe that about half of today’s homeschoolers started in traditional schools. So, with some fear of over-generalizing, here are some characteristics of accidental homeschoolers that I have observed:

• Accidental homeschoolers often have the impression that they are unusual in that they are only homeschooling because it’s the best option. Many seem to feel that this sets them apart from other homeschoolers.
• Accidental homeschoolers’ decision to homeschool often resolves a crisis, or series of crises, with the children, the school, and sometimes within the family.
• Many accidental homeschoolers have been preoccupied trying to make traditional education work for their children so that when they finally “give-up” on schools and decide to homeschool, they find themselves with no preparation and no real idea what homeschooling means.
• Accidental homeschoolers start with real trepidation and often with little to no enthusiasm for their endeavor.
• The number of people starting as “accidental homeschoolers” is increasing now that the public has broad awareness and acceptance of homeschooling.

Since we get a lot of these calls from these families in transition, we have created a free guide with ten key ideas to help them through the transition into homeschooling. The advice includes how to avoid mistakes in an initial buying spree, how to layer in an overall homeschool program, how to connect with other homeschoolers locally and online, and how to build an appropriate mix of activities for each day.

The Homeschool Melting Pot

We’ve noticed that the accidental homeschooler label only applies for a limited period to these homeschoolers. After a deschooling transition period, parents become immersed in their new approach to education and lifestyle. Their initial anger with the education system which they feel failed them melts away as they adapt to their new life. They seem to forget that their decision to homeschool was one of necessity, not a deliberate choice.

“I had starting homeschooling when I found that the schools just did not work for my children. My initial attitude was bitterness with the schools and the blunders and accidents that had forced me to take on the education ourselves.

Over the years, a funny thing happened. I began to notice that there was nothing regrettable about the fork in the road that I took and the homeschooling path that I was on. I shifted from being a critic of the schools to being a homeschool advocate. I noticed that many of the friends I made that first year experienced a similar metamorphosis….

This Accidental Homeschooler became an Enthusiastic Homeschooler

Article by John Edelson of Time4Learning.com, a leading online curriculum for homeschoolers. To discuss accidental homeschooling with other parents, join this thread on the parenting forum.

In the bad old days, say a decade ago or more ago, homeschooling was hard and lonely and it was difficult to do a great job.  I’m not saying that a lot of families didn’t have the gumption or resourcefulness to make it work great.  I am saying that for the average joe, homeschooling was a tough row to hoe. It was hard because…

• Everybody thought you were weird
• Most publishers wouldn’t sell to families the textbooks. Or you could get the textbook, but not the teacher’s guide.  Or the publisher had a pricing system so that buying one copy was very expensive.
• There was a very limited homeschool community (depending on where you were)
• Other homeschoolers were hard to find.
• etc etc etc

Today, homeschooling has an entirely different feel.  Most Americans are aware of it (although they aren’t all in favor of it). Many women (especially teachers) have a strong gut level reaction to the possibility of homeschooling.  Most mothers (in my experience) upon hearing that I’m involved in homeschooling have something to say. It ranges from an explanation that they’ve thought of it but for some reason, it doesn’t make sense.  Or that they are strongly against. Or a series of questions on how it works.  My point is that they all seem to think about it.

There seems to be a homeschool community everywhere. Most towns seem to have a Christian exclusive group, an inclusive group, unschoolers, plus a range of co-ops and get-togethers and sports groups.   

The publishers are falling all over themselves not just to sell their current products to homeschoolers but to create new homeschool-friendly products.

And most importantly, the Internet changes everything. It’s easy to find other homeschoolers of your own ilk and products and services galore.  Want to find other Christian homeschoolers using online curriculum, no problem. Want to find other homeschoolers within a few blocks of your home?  Want to find other families with a children with both aspergers and dyslexia? It’s all doable on the net.  And in terms of products and services. Above and beyond finding used textbooks and thousands of other traditional products, there are pure internet products such as (just to name a few):

A free spelling program or an online homeschool curriculum or a way to build vocabulary skills or to build phonics skills or with the amazing videos of United Streaming. or the great advice from online parent homeschool discussions.

I now feel sorry for those students and teachers stuck in a traditional school with limited room to innovate or to access the net.  They’re still doing things mostly the old way and are years behind the homeschool community who is willing and able to innovate mvoing to the best methods as they come available.  In many ways, this dynamic of the homeschool community makes it likely that the best education will be available at home for awhile to come.

What is college supposed to be? I thought, for those who had an intellectual bent and were not under enormous short-term pressure financially, it was the time to develop and experiment intellectually.  In my case, this was true. I went to school not for the contacts, not for the credentials, but for the education.

 I’m in good company. I was just reading Steve Jobs speech given at the Stanford graduation. And I quote:

 But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

Steve’s speech is well worth reading and considering. It makes the point that I wanted to make: the primary purpose of college can be achieved without necessarily earning the degree or spending the money.  Of course, it means forgoing the credential and you can see how much this has handicapped Steve Jobs & Jez San & Bill Gates.

  I ran across the info on Steve Jobs while reading this blog about learning Karate in a post called: Three Stories by Steve, a poem by Shel