Who can homeschool?
Who should homeschool?
For those amongst us who have even accepted the fact that home schooling is a viable and often, preferable way to educate the minds and hearts of our children, there are still prejudices. After all, we have in our minds the picture of "the homeschooling family." This often looks like the "traditional" family - dad suits up and heads out to work in the morning, while mommy gets breakfast ready and then settles the children around the dining table ... or, if they're "serious", into little desks and chairs in their SCHOOL AT HOME. If mom has any duties outside of the home, they are usually to cart the children to swimming, football, karate, etc. or at church, where the littles are usually in tow. For those who can picture homeschooling, this is often what it looks like. To imagine anything beyond this would require a paradigm shift that many think would make their head explode.
What? You're a SINGLE PARENT?! *You* CAN'T home school!!!
You *do* things OUTSIDE of the home?!
You LEAVE the children with a SITTER?!
I wasn't sure whether to open up this part of the picture to the world just yet, but I realize, there are others who need to know they are not alone. They CAN. You CAN! YOU can rise above the naysayers and speakers of doubt and discouragement ... le resistance!! I hope to share stories of other homeschooling families where the mother is the head of the household. We do exist. We work HARD, but we make it WORK!! Yes, I'm just getting started, however, my reality is making it even more important for me to share this journey. God has placed this on my heart since 2008, when my daughter was 2 years old. I had actually forgotten how long ago it was until I went into my Amazon wish lists and saw that there was one entitled "Homeschooling" that I started in 2008. I recognized books that I had ordered, but never read. That was then. This is now. Now, I am HOLDING TIGHT onto the VISION that God has given me for my family, and trusting the process ... LE RESISTANCE!!!
By the way, here are some other blogs of homeschooling single mothers who are just as awesome (if not more) as I am ;-):
There are several more out there, as well as resources, etc. A simple Google search will reveal so much. However, none of them are living out this reality in the Jamaican context. Our stories must be told as well. It is for this I have been called. Are you reading this and are a home schooling single parent in Jamaica? I would love for you to share your story with my readers. Click HERE to submit your story.
I'm not a single-parent from Jamaica, but as a thankful-Texas-homeschooling mom, I appreciate your candor about homeschooling perceptions of "doing it right."
ReplyDeleteThere are so many ways to successfully instill learning into your child away from the dining room table, without being on a strict schedule, and with only one parent in the house.