Today we’re going to talk about the 6 homeschool objections I hear most frequently and we’re going to show you how to take action against every single one of them.
As a homeschool creator, I get a lot of people in my dms telling me why homeschooling is bad for kids and how they know a homeschooler with xyz issues because of homeschooling or that they themselves were homeschooled and how they feel like it ruined their childhood.
If you’re new here, I’m Tonya Johnson, founder of helping hearts homeschool where I help homeschool moms and ministry leaders navigate the waters of social media. We focus on creating enjoyable homeschool lifestyles while learning how to use social media in a way that glorifies God while simultaneously growing our bank accounts. Like anything else, social media is just a tool. We simply focus on using it for positive vs negative.
I make a lot of homeschool content, and a few months ago I got a comment on one of my videos with some very valid points. You can go to the corresponding video to see how the conversation played out, but basically I agreed with pretty much everything she said and all of those items were ones that were on my own list at one point as well.
Today we’re going to cover 6 homeschool objections and how we can make sure our kids don’t fall into their trap.
1. Isolation
She was left to homeschool herself. I do think that’s wrong, and I have the same experience with that actually as well as did a lot of my friends. If we choose to homeschool our kids, we’re choosing to be their teacher. We’re choosing to interact with them, to show them love, to answer questions, to do all the things a normal teacher would do. Whether you’re leaving your kids with books or videos, if they’re homeschooling themselves, you should put them in a tradition school. It’s not healthy for them to be isolated.
2nd part of that is isolation from other kids. Socialization comes into play and yes, they do need socialization outside of siblings.
Church is a huge way to provide socialization if you’re in a church with a thriving kid and teen program. Our church does field trips, bible club once a week, fun and interactive classes, and family activities all for the little kids and then the teens have an equal amount of opportunities for socializing. Other places that provide socialization would be local homeschool groups as well as places like libraries that offer classes or special get togethers.
If all else fails, create your own group. Have play dates and host parties; get your kids around other kids.
2. Authority figures outside of parents
This one issue seems to be with authority PERIOD. Having an issue with authority is a heart issue. It doesn’t matter if it’s your parents or someone else. Having said that, going through some kind of discipleship program where we teach out kids about submission and help them gain a healthy respect for authority without blindly following them is necessary. They are not one in the same and should not be taught as such. Placing them under the authority of other adults helps them practice that submission out side of the home. That’s where different ways of socialization from #1 come into play.
3. Boundaries
The author says she never learned proper boundaries because doors were never locked at home. A lot more goes into teaching boundaries than locked doors, but I do agree it’s important to teach boundaries. That’s going to be more of a conversation with your kids than simply locking doors through, and by a conversation I mean a continuous one over the course of their childhood.
4. Structure
This is one I speak on a lot, so y’all know my feelings on this. As a former teacher and someone who sat through a lot of child psychology classes, yes, kids thrive on structure, period.
I also need to say, that adults can’t blame their character flaws on their childhood. At that point it’s time to grow up and take accountability for your actions. During the transition period from childhood to adulthood, I give some leniency because it is hard to learn to have good character when you spent 17 years letting emotions dictate what you did or didn’t do each day, BUT you’re an adult now and have to learn the things you didn’t learn as a child. As a 33 year old who didn’t grow up with any structure, my clients aren’t going to give me a pass when I tell them I didn’t hit my deadline because as a 15 yr old I was never taught to wake up on time.
Back to the point, let’s teach our kids to have discipline and character now, so they don’t have to be “those adults” that can’t show up on time because they stayed up all night playing video games and watching tik toks. That’s not fair to them.
Bonus Training #1
5. Proper Education
This is one that again is talked about a lot and a huge part of making sure your child is learning what they need to learn is being present during their homeschool which we talked about in step #1. If you haven’t downloaded the “Homeschool Starter Guide” yet, do so now. We walk you through how to homeschool in a way where huge educational gaps aren’t even a thing.
6. Communication skills
Again, back to step #1, get your kids around other kids and other adults. Communication can absolutely be taught, and it should be, but real world practice is necessary as well.
One of the “subjects” we cover if you will is SEL, or social emotional learning which deals a lot with communication. The freebie I have for you this week is a fun SEL pack that you can download FOR FREE with 5 SEL activities that you can use to stark “communication conversation” with your little one today.
Bonus Training #2
All of these points will be strengthened by having your kids involved with people outside of your home. Interaction with people is healthy, period. I don’t personally know of any homeschooler who keeps their kids home and away from people 24/7 for majority of their life. I think when people hear “homeschooling” they think that means we’re hermits as well and that’s just not the case.
BONUS FREEBIE
Your kids will enjoy this SEL pack and you'll enjoy knowing that they are working on some critical skills.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
If you like anything you see, simply click on the picture for more information.