This Friday I have the pleasure and honor to have a great homeschooling dad doing a guest post. Mr. David Allen from Conversaving.com is sharing his outlook, experiences and thoughts on homeschooling. If you get a chance head on over to www.conversaving.com to check out David and his wife Jenni to get other great ideas on homeschooling and penny-pinching!
In the past, I never had an opinion about homeschooling, because homeschooling was never on my radar screen. Prior to meeting my wife, I had never personally known a homeschooler. Oh sure, I would occasionally hear on TV about a homeschooler winning the national spelling bee or jumping from 5th grade right into Princeton, but it was a remote world to me.
Like many former “public schoolers”, I knew that the public schools of today were irretrievably broken, both functionally and morally. I readily agreed to the concept of homeschooling for our children, and I was very encouraged when my wife took me to my first home school convention and showed me that many other people felt the same way. That commitment to learning and wholesomeness was still alive and well in our Country, you just had to diligently seek it out.
On paper, the commitment to homeschooling may be easy, but the actual practice is quite hard. It requires a large amount of time, patience, and unselfishness. As a husband, you are the principal of the school, and sometimes even a teacher. The 1950s concept of a husband coming home from work, hanging his hat on the hat rack, and reading the paper until dinner is ready is nonexistent in the home school environment. You are just as immersed in the homeschooling process as your wife, and, if there are things other than homeschooling that she could not accomplish during the day, then you should help her with these things. Also, don’t expect to live in the immaculate home that your mother kept or that you see on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens. Get used to papers and books on tables, unmade beds, and dishes in the sink. You and your wife committed to making a different type of “better home”, one where the results may not be immediately apparent and the main improvements may be internal rather than external. Besides, you can always go back to cleaning house when the kids go off to Princeton.
Yes, there is much more physical clutter in a home school house, but there is much less emotional and moral “clutter” in your kids’ hearts. That will pay dividends in the future.
Alright men out there, we have heard from one man, who is next? I am looking for a few more good men to tell the truth (Yes, we can handle the truth) and write a post on being a homeschooling husband. What it means to you, how it has changed you and how it has changed your outlook on homeschooling. So, if you are interested in sharing your homeschool experiences with others as a show of support and encouragement, fill out the contact form below and I will get in touch with you.