Homeschool Myths: Do Home-School Parents Need To Be Trained Teachers?
By Mimi Rothschild
One of the most common arguments that home-school parents receive from critics is that someone who does not have a teaching degree cannot properly educate a child. By conjuring up images of unqualified adults trying desperately to teach children who are falling further and further behind their peers, home-school critics can unfortunately frighten many parents into rethinking their decision to home-school. The good news is, however, that parents who home-school can and do give their children an adequate, and many times superior, education.
Surveys of teachers in the United States have brought some very interesting, and often disturbing, facts to light about the degree program for teachers. Many teachers are saying that the system is flawed when it comes to teaching people how to teach. Though a teaching degree is still an honorable and worthwhile goal, many teachers site such flaws in their education as being taught outdated teaching methods, lack of hands-on practice, minimal supervision for new and student teachers, and requirements that are too low for eligibility to be a teacher.
There are, of course, very good and dedicated teachers in the public school system, despite flaws in the teaching degree programs. However, many of the reasons that some teachers excel are the same reasons that home-school parents excel in teaching their own children. These teachers see the need for inspiration and variety when it comes to teaching children, and they try their best to give the personalized attention that each child needs. These teachers also realize that in order to teach effectively, they must constantly be learning themselves.
Many parents home-school to give their children the personalized attention and education that will help them reach their full potential. These home-school parents are confident in the fact that they can teach the subjects they know well, and get help for the subjects that they don't know well. Distance learning classes on the Internet, tutors, and networking with other home-school families can fill in any educational gaps that parents may come across when they home-school. The added advantage of home-school is that the home-school parent knows the home-school student better than anyone else, and can devise a curriculum that helps enhance the student's learning experience in a unique and personalized way. Confident home-school parents are not afraid of what they don't know; anything can be learned. They are encouraged and inspired by what they do know, and by how they can put what they know to use to help their children receive superior home-school educations.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, children's rights activist, author, and Founder and C.E.O. of online education company Learning by Grace, Inc. Rothschild and her husband of twenty-eight years reside in suburban Philadelphia with their eight children.
Feeling that “our current system of education has broken its promise,” Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. to provide families with Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children all over the world.
In addition to her twenty years of experience as a homeschool mother, Rothschild has written a number of books dealing with education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Home Education Websites Blog consists of helpful online content and activities for Christian homeschooling families.
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