This post is a bit of a departure from my usual topics but I feel that as I spend so much time talking about practical, purposeful and relevant learning that this is also something people might find valuable. As I write this a good friend and colleague has recently made the decision to homeschool their child and this has caused me to reflect on my own experiences being taught at home and the changes it made in my life.
The number of children who are being homeschooled was rising rapidly even before the pandemic and Covid has just accelerated the increase. Now that most parents have had the opportunity to ‘trial’ homeschooling with school lockdowns, I have no doubt that many have begun to see the value that home education brings. The freedom and flexibility to personalise your child’s education and see them as an individual and not an average of 30, works wonders. Additionally with the growth of internet courses and information, knowledge is no longer a barrier. It is against this backdrop that I would like to share my story and experiences as a homeschooled child, to help parents deal with the agonising decision about their child’s future.
It was at the end of my primary school years that my mother made the decision to homeschool myself and my siblings. My youngest brother was deeply unhappy in kindergarten and I was just drifting through school. I achieved a fair bit in literacy, given my love for reading but was mediocre at best with the other subjects. There was never a good answer to “what did you learn today.” School was a chore and I left a trail of unfinished writing and homework pieces behind me to prove it. I was also socially awkward and shy to a massive degree, barely understanding other people and preferring a good book and a quiet corner. My lack of self-esteem was chronic and shyness extreme. In other words, in the boisterous sociality of secondary school, I would barely have survived.
I achieved very little in my first year at home. After a short attempt to keep me on a school schedule of ‘3 Rs’ my mother wisely left me to the only ‘R’ that I showed any interest in: reading. I immersed myself in catching up with all of the reading that I had missed out on during school hours. I devoured entire libraries worth of fiction, but barely a slip of paper showed my progress. We call that ‘unschooling’ now. Even though this was a time of worry and anxiety for my mother as she questioned her choices, this time was a valuable and necessary part of my transition to becoming my own person.
School by necessity requires structure and a constant prescription of work for the child, it is only in early years setting that even a nod is made towards child-led learning. When you live your life being told what to do and learn, freedom from that is overwhelming. To overcome learning apathy and over-dependence on being told what to do, takes time. However, once I realised that I could be my own person and follow my own interests, I dove into learning like never before. I started with history, working my way from the Ancient Egyptians to the battlefields of World War II. Then I took on the science and history of space exploration, before moving on to environment and sustainability. I took on every bit of knowledge with autistic passion and drive. Completing my first Open University course when most others were still taking GCSEs.
My confidence in my ability to learn grew steadily and I started to build my own identity. I began working at a swim school and being needed and valued there pushed me further. I made the decision to go to college and follow the system’s escalator up to become a teacher. First up was the minimum GCSEs required in English, Maths and Science. I entered college with great general knowledge but little practical knowledge. I had barely done any mathematics since leaving school and I had no idea how to even start writing an essay. Nevertheless, I had made my decision and I threw myself into the course, learning at a truly rapid rate because I finally had a reason to learn.
This is when I realised that I had something more valuable than most other people on my course; a love of learning. Learning wasn’t a chore but a chance to improve myself, become a better person and find something fascinating. Throughout college and much of university, I was surrounded by people who were only there for the piece of paper at the end. Their apathetic and begrudging approach to anything that involved learning was bewildering to me. In the end there was only one subject I did not take to; music. That love of learning, independence and motivation, was what enabled me to achieve far beyond what I thought was possible and I credit all of it to my time being homeschooled.
So my advice to all those considering homeschooling or who have already taken the plunge is to nurture your child’s interests, see them as an individual and enjoy your time together with them. Schools have to teach the widest array of subjects to be able to support every child, but with only one or two, you can afford to follow their interests. My homeschool life was a long series of field trips, activities and events that I could never have had in a school. As a parent, or indeed just a human being, you should be in that learning journey with them. Knowledge can always be acquired but you only have so much time to teach a love of learning and life.