I enjoy saying "I live in the greatest country in the world, Texas!" Texas is probably one of the freest states in the country in many ways; one of which we stand out for is Homeschooling. While we know Homeschooling has been around for decades and centuries, the battle for Texas homeschooling began in the courtrooms back in the 80's. The Leeper case was president for the freedom of the families who had chosen, and still choose be free to educate their children the best way they are able to. Some of us view it as our God given gift, responsibility, privilege to care for the future of our nation.
Often I meet with parents who are just starting out, have a vague idea of what homeschooling truly is. I also see on social media the frantic post/questions posted by parents who are overwhelmed with the idea of teaching their own children. I think we could all agree how at the start of our journey, we too had some sense of fear of the "what if I fail my child"? Some of us took off and ran with idea of educating our children. Others, it took a few trial and error with curriculums and publishers to figure out how easy it truly can be.
What homeschooling is not... At least here in Texas, homeschooling is not another school similar to public, private, or charter school where parents go drop off their child for the day so someone else could keep and teach them. Homeschooling is parent led education... Meaning we the parent are responsible for providing a bonafide education, which is either using text books, online program, digital text, Co-Op, or the unschooling format. And yes, we parents are responsible for the expenses for curriculum, Co-Ops, and sports. We also have to be the recordkeepers, even though we hire tutors, or attend a Co-Op, or do an online program.
Homeschooling can be, and often is fun, because as parents we get to take our children to visit museums, field trips, and other activities when the rest of the school children are at school, so we get to have the place all to ourselves. "So does this mean my child will not be able to socialize?" Think about something, when a child is in the school setting, they have to pay attention to the teacher, they have to do class work, and they are not to be disrupting the classroom. So when they get in trouble, what do they get in trouble for? Socializing! And when actually get to socialize with peers during recess or sometimes lunch break,what they catch from them usually isn't positive as peers tend to goof around or pick up from others hurtful behavior. In the homeschool world, there is a vast amount of socializing opportunities for children. Whether through sports, clubs, Co-Ops, meetup groups, church groups, and many more.
I encourage you to visit a local Co-Op, or reach out to a local meetup group to build community and get to interact with other like-minded parents who are probably at the same point of your journey as you are, or quite possibly they are veterans and are always willing to encourage and guide you along the path others have previously have trekked.
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