The End of Home Schooling 

What??? Is something going on that I need to be concerned about? Are home schoolers being coerced into one of the many on-line charter schools? Will I be able to still use my faith-based textbooks? Can I expect surprise visits from a state official if I continue teaching my child at home?

So, what am I talking about?  By “end,” I could mean “finished” or “over” if home schooling were to be outlawed or made illegal.  But I’m not talking about this use of the word.

Some home educators might think I mean the end of “home schooling,” and now the beginning of “home education.”  They think it would be best to eliminate the terms “school or schooling” from our vocabulary altogether when it comes to describing what takes place in our homes.  Their position might be representative of an “us” (school is where you send your children away to, and we don’t do that) verses “them” (those who don’t understand the difference between school and education, but they would if they would just attend the right seminars, the ones we in the “us” camp attend) kind of thinking.  But, I’m not talking about that either.

I’m talking about using the word “end” to mean “purpose,” or the “expected, hoped for result” of engaging in this form of schooling, (oops, or education…).

In other words, what are we doing this for? In my last post I suggested that studying what you love needs to dominate over studying what you need to. Too much studying of what you need to can lead to burn out. The motivation for studying what you love is internal. You don’t have to constantly be reminding or nagging your student to get to it when it’s something he or she loves.

But, studying what you love rather than what you have to isn’t the end or purpose of home schooling I have in mind either.

While most of us are busy doing it, doing it, doing it, for nine months of the year, there are two times especially when the “Why am I doing this?” question pops up: at the end of the school year around the time of graduation, and just prior to the start of the new school year. As we’re in between these two times, I’d like to encourage you to think about why you will be home schooling again next year.  I’d like you to think about your “end” or purpose in doing what you do.

In my next post, I’ll suggest what the ultimate “end” is, and continues to be, for our family and the many families we work with.

Thanks for reading!

Curt Bumcrot. MRE

Students who register for high school classes by August 22nd, 2018 can claim a $15 credit to Exodus Books. Click here to learn more!