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Homeschooling LIES (which are YOU believing?)
Jun 19, 2024
Are you believing any of these common homeschool myths? Are any of them keeping you from homeschooling? Hear my take/OPINION on them! ********************************************* Hey there! I’m Sara, and I’m a teacher-turned-homeschooling mom to 4 kiddos (including a set of twins!). I balance homeschooling while working full-time from home, and am so thankful you are here. I love sharing about homeschooling on my blog, Blessed Homeschool, where you’ll find tips, resources, and curriculum reviews. Whether you are a newbie or a veteran, I hope you will leave inspired and equipped with what you find. ********************************************* NEW TO HOMESCHOOLING? 📖 Check out my homeschooling for BEGINNERS guide: https://blessedhomeschool.com/homeschool-beginners-guide/ 📍 Homeschooling in 50 States Series: https://blessedhomeschool.com/homeschooling-in-50-states-series/ 🙏 Homeschool Prayer CHALLENGE: https://blessedhomeschool.com/homeschool-prayer-challenge/ 📝 FREE Printables: https://blessedhomeschool.com/free-homeschool-printables-and-resources/
View Video Transcript
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Hey you guys, welcome back to my channel or if you're new here, welcome. I'm really glad you're here
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especially if you are considering homeschooling, but there are some things holding you back
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Today I want to chat about some of the common, let's call them homeschooling myths that I think
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a lot of people have to work through when they are considering homeschooling. I want to share my thoughts
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on these things from the perspective of a Christian homeschool mom and hopefully help answer some
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questions for you if you are thinking about homeschooling your kids and hey if you are
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already homes stick around because I would love for you to chime in in the comments
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below to share your own thoughts on these topics or how they've evolved over the years
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If you don't know me my name is Sarah we are finishing up our seventh year of
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homeschooling my oldest son is in sixth grade I've got twin daughters who are finishing fifth
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grade and a pre-ker. I am a former high school teacher who never thought I'd be homeschooling
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so I have definitely had to work through my own thoughts on these topics I'm going to talk about
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today. I'm also a follower of Jesus and my relationship with the Lord has developed and grown
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almost on the same path as my homeschooling journey. So you can expect that perspective to be
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woven into my answers here. Over the years, I've had many conversations with friends thinking
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about homeschooling, friends who were worried about certain aspects of homeschooling, things like that. And although I think maybe they are becoming less common concerns as homeschooling
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becomes increasingly popular, there are still some myths out there. And I don't want any of them
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to hold you back from this awesome job that God has given us to teach our kids. And let's just get this
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out of the way. I believe that for Christians, giving our kids a Christian education from a biblical
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worldview is of utmost importance. That's just not happening in government schools. And that's all I'm
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to say about that for now. That could be an entire other video, but I think there is no better
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way to give our kids godly counsel and teach them to apply God's word to every part of their lives
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to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord than to have them home with us
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I absolutely think everyone should consider homeschooling. If it's at all possible, homeschool your
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kids. I know that there are always going to be special circumstances, but at least consider it
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learn more about what homeschooling means and what resources you have available and especially learn
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what the bible says about it the bible is not silent about how we should educate our children so
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all that being said let's get to some of these big homeschooling myths and hopefully some encouragement
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let's start with myth number one i don't have the patience to homeschool my kids okay you guys
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truth time this was totally me i was a high school teacher for a reason i just didn't think i was
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cut out for working with little kids even my own but I'm going to be honest when I think
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about this now years later I think how selfish was I to even say this about precious kids
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god has entrusted me with raising that I don't have the patience to be around them all day
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guys I'm sorry if this sounds harsh but I think it's so sad when I hear this now to me it revealed
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a heart that sought after myself way too much in my own interests rather than what the best interest
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my kids might have been. I was worried about being miserable all day because I didn't think I wanted
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to be with my kids all day. How sad. I was relying on my own strength and understanding too much
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rather than on the strength of the Lord. Because the fact of the matter is patience is a fruit of the
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Holy Spirit. And if you are a born again Christian, you have an amazing power inside of you that you
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might not be tapping into. If you know Jesus as your personal savior, but say that you don't have
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enough patience to homeschool your kids, then you can start asking for this patience immediately
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When we pray in accordance with God's will for our lives, he promises to give us what we ask for
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And I bet that patience with our kids is something that he desires for us to have in our lives
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Yes, you might have moments of impatience. Yes, there are going to be some challenges, but it's been
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an amazing journey to see the Lord work in my life and give me patience when I didn't think I had it
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in me. You might not have the patience to homeschool, but God, has an abundance of it and is ready to help you in your weakness here to be strong in your
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weakness. So don't let this one hold you back. All right, myth number two. What about socialization
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This was another one I believed until I really understood more about homeschooling. Now it's just
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crazy to me When people ask this question are they really thinking that unless kids are in classes of kids the same age as them for hours each day their peers that they won be socialized and
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able to make it in the real world someday? Doesn't that just sound crazy? But I believed it. I thought
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that being in groups of their peers was the only way that kids made friends or learned to interact
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with other people because that's how I grew up. That's what I knew. I thought that homeschoolers
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literally just sat in their house all day, like how we did in a classroom, but at home, isolated
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and not interacting with anyone else. I think this is becoming less of a common viewpoint, right
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Because today there are so many opportunities for homeschoolers, and I don't think I know one
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homeschooling family that looks like the example that I just mentioned. Sure, if you want to
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make homeschooling antisocial, make an antisocial. But the fact that you might be worried about
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your kids being socialized is a pretty good indicator that you will find a way for that not to
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happen. One of my favorite times of the week is after our Bible study fellowship class on Tuesdays
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when we meet with all the other families at the park to play for an hour or so. We get a pretty
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big group of kids there sometimes and they are of all ages. The other week, our group of moms
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had a sweet woman come up to us and ask if all the kids that were playing together were our
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children, to which we said, yes. She said she was so impressed by how they were not only all
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working together and getting along with all the different ages there from kids' ages
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five to high schoolers, but that they were actively including her son in the game, whom they
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didn't even know, and how that made him feel really special. It's so amazing to see things like
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this. I'd say with the activities that I have found for us to be involved with, my kids have
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much more experience socializing and interacting with people in the real world than they would
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sitting behind a desk for eight hours a day in a room filled with kids the exact same age as them
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It's a beautiful thing to cultivate. The belief that homeschoolers are sheltered from the real world
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and lack exposure to diverse perspectives is crazy to me. And I think from what I've seen, it's
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actually the opposite. Obviously, there are going to be random exceptions, as with anything
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but homeschooling has provided us with so many opportunities to interact with people of different
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ages, backgrounds, and cultures, and work on my kids' social skills. Hopefully this helps a little
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bit if you hold this thought. If not, maybe you'll come across it at one point or another
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I think when people ask this question, it's interesting to ask them, what do you mean by socialization
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See what they actually think this means and what they are worried about. I could go on about this, but I'll end with a couple of scripture verses that have meant a lot to me regarding this topic, which are Proverbs 2215 and 1st Corinthians 1533
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Proverbs says that foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child
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I think we can agree that we are all foolish at times, but children especially need discipline and instruction
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I don't want my kids surrounded only by other foolish children all day without discipline and instruction that will point them to Christ
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Similarly, First Corinthians tells us, do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals
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This is just sound wisdom. So often you hear of peer pressure, bullying, teasing, peer dependency, etc., happening when kids are in a public school setting
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Not always, obviously, I feel like I need to keep clarifying this, but I think a big benefit of homeschooling is that if this kind of thing is
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is going to happen with my kids. I have the opportunity to redirect, comfort, teach, and train them
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So socialization, not worried about it. And I don't think you should be either if this is a myth
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keeping you from homeschooling. Okay, myth number three, I'm not smart enough to teach my kids
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This is another crazy one to me, but I get it. Public school teachers have to go to college
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go through training, get their degrees, et cetera, to be able to teach in a classroom
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Guys, I'm telling you as a former teacher, yes, I learned some valuable things during my training
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but did I know it all? Not a chance. And most of it, most of it, I really learned when I was in the
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field and actually teaching. When you teach, you prepare, you learn your students and figure out
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how to best meet their needs, which I might add is super hard to do in a classroom of 25 to 30 kids
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But as a homeschool mom, you have one-on-one attention that you can give your kids and you know them
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better than anyone else. You are an expert on your kids and what they need. God gave you your
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kids and you are going to love them and nurture them the best and care for them more than any
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other teacher no matter what they might say when we were researching homeschooling my husband
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i went to hear dr brian ray speak at a local library if you haven't heard of him dr ray founded
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the neri institute which stands for national home education research institution and this organization conducts research about homeschooling conducts and collects that research You can look them up at neri N
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But I remember hearing him share research about this, that even homeschool students who were
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taught by parents without a high school diploma scored above average on achievement tests. Basically
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they were finding that kids' academic achievement had no correlation to the level of their
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parents' education. Now, why is it? I think it's because when you homeschool, you can not only
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tailor your child's education, but you learn along with them. And it's a beautiful thing. I am
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learning so much more history with my kids now than I ever remember learning in school. And Latin
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I never learned Latin, but I'm teaching it to my kids. So don't let this myth hold you back
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It's simply not true. And if there are areas where your kids do need extra help or assistance
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there are resources out there that can help you. If there's something you really don't think
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you can teach or don't want to teach, utilize online courses or tutors or a local co-op. But don't let
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this myth hold you back. Even when you get to high school, there are so many resources that can
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help you teach your kids through their high school years and graduate them from your homeschool
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And let's not forget, education is discipleship. The Bible tells us that everyone, when he is
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fully trained, will be like his teacher. Who is going to disciple your kids if they're in public
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school? You might not feel smart enough academically, but what about worldview and morals and values
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If you send your kids away to school, are you confident in the worldview of the teachers that they are spending most of the day with
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When our kids are fully trained, they will be like their teacher. That one really hits home, and I don't think it can be ignored when weighing your options
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On to myth number four. Homeschooling parents are just indoctrinating their kids
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To this one, I say, yeah, so what? I actually looked up the definition of the word indoctrination, and here it is
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to teach someone to fully accept the ideas, opinions, and beliefs of a particular group and to not consider other ideas, opinions, and beliefs
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If you ask me, this is what happens in government school. When was the last time a government school considered the ideas, opinions, and beliefs of Christianity
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When was the last time they not only taught the theory of evolution, but taught about creationism alongside of that so that kids could weigh their options
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It just doesn't happen. government schools deny Jesus as creator and Lord over our lives
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They deny that God exists and that we can know him. That is indoctrination
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As parents, we should have the right to teach our kids what we want to teach them. And I will also say that for so many homeschoolers, I know they are so well-rounded and
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intentional about teaching other ideas, opinions, and beliefs. We talk about this all the time in our homeschool
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But we also believe that objective truth exists and that we can know it and that Jesus is
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the truth. So that's what we teach. Proverbs 226 says to train up a child in the way he should go
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Even when he is old, he will not depart from it. Now, I don't think this is a promise that our kids are always going to walk with the Lord
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or even be saved if we homeschool them. But it does tell me that there is a way a child should go and we should be training our kids in that direction
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Not in the direction government schools want them to go. Let's move on to myth number five
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My kids will miss out on things that other kids get to do in school
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I remember having a conversation with a friend who is sitting on the edge of her
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decision to homeschool and this was a big concern. She grew up playing sports, had a lot of great
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memories about that and was kind of lamenting the fact that she didn't see this being a big part
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of her kids' lives if she homeschooled. We had a long heart to heart about this misconception
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And it ultimately boiled down to seeing the bigger picture of homeschooling in general and all the
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things that I've kind of been talking about already. But I also share with people that there are
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lots of opportunities available to homeschoolers that maybe weren't always there. If you are worried
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about your kids missing out on sports, look into options in your local community that aren't school
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related. If you want your kids to be able to go to dances or proms or graduation, there are
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often opportunities for these as well through local co-ops. And if there aren't, organize them
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set them up. Yes, there are things that my kids miss out on being homeschooled. We miss out
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on early mornings rushing out the door. We miss out on riding the school bus, school lunches
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homework in the evening, 10,000 plus hours in a school building, and we'll miss out
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but the positives outweigh everything they might be missing and there are certainly many alternatives
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and experiences you can create and have with your kids when you homeschool. All right, myth number six
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Homestchooling isn't rigorous enough. Some people think that homeschool kids don't receive as good
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of an education as kids that are more traditionally schooled I think this one can easily be busted as studies have continuously shown that homeschooled kids do just as well if not better than peers on standardized
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tests. But honestly, it's not all about the tests. And I don't think we need to be reaching for
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the same standard of academic rigor. I mean, this is going to look different for different people
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As homeschool moms, we do have to follow state laws and standards and plan for our kids' futures
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obviously, but there is room for individualized instruction, creating a love of learning
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and interest-led studies. I think ultimately you have to decide what your goals for education are
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and what rigorous means for you and your kids. For us, for example, we might not move at as fast
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of a pace through our subjects, but I really get to make sure my kids have an understanding
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of what they're learning before we move on. It's such a blessing to be able to do that
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to know them and their learning styles, and tailor their education to their strengths, weaknesses
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and interests, be that with our curriculum or schedule, teaching style, whatever. This ultimately
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results in a rigorous and challenging learning environment for our kids. The last thing I'll say
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about this is my viewpoint has changed so much on what the chief end of education should be for my
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kids. It's not simply about getting good grades so they can get into a good college and get a good
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job and earn money to live a happy life. Now I recognize that I'm helping my kids build their
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skills and talents so they can glorify God so they can love him better and better serve others
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In education, are we hoping to glorify ourselves or glorify God? Everything we learn doesn't have
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to be just rigorous. It should teach us something about God and reflect his goodness. And finally
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myth number seven, homeschooling is too expensive. It can be, yes, but it doesn't have to be
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Honestly, I'm probably not going to be your go-to for advice on free or cheap curriculum because
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I like boxed curriculum. It can be expensive, but I budget for it every month and I'm really
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thankful to be able to use these resources in our homeschool. It's just what I prefer, but you can
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absolutely homeschool on a budget. There are a variety of options for used curriculum, free resources
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and videos online, curriculum sales, and things like that. You might have some great opportunities
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in your town for co-ops or groups that will come alongside you to help you homeschool or library
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activities and events, things like that. So if the thought that homeschooling is expensive is keeping
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you from doing it, please reconsider and look into some options for you. I know that finances can be
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a real burden, especially in today's society with one working parent. But I have heard so many
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success stories from people with multiple kids who have made it work. I know there may be challenges
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but I hope you are encouraged that this doesn't have to be something that stops you. When I decided
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that I wouldn't be going back to my teaching job after taking a leave of absence. I was
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definitely scared and worried about finances and making it work on my husband's salary. I had started
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a side business, yes, and that was going well, but it was never, it's never guaranteed. And my
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husband was working as a contractor at the time in his industry, which can be very interesting
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He was between jobs a lot, which was hard, but got always provided. It might not always have been
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how we wanted it to be or we thought it should look. But if I know anything now, it's that
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he is faithful. If this is an area you are worried about, take it to him. If you know that homeschooling
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is best for your kids, I pray that you are able to take that leap of faith and you will see the fruit
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of whatever sacrifices it requires. Okay, you guys, I'm not sure I knew exactly where I wanted to
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go with each of those myths, but there you haven't. I have been so encouraged by people over the
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who have gone before me believing in the Lord in this mission of homeschooling and I hope that
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I can encourage you in even any small way. I hope that if you are considering homeschooling
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this has helped ease any fears you felt about any of these topics or at least encourage you to
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do more research and consideration. If you have any questions at all, please leave a comment
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and I would love to hear what resonated with you the most about this video. And what myths
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would you add to this? What have you heard about homeschooling that simply isn't true or needs to be
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debunked. Drop any of that below. Hit that like button if you agree with me on these topics
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And I'm also going to ask you to subscribe to my channel if you'd like to do that before you
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leave. I love talking about homeschooling and sharing tips and encouragement with you guys
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interacting with you. So I would love to have you be a part of this little community here
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Thank you so much for watching. I will see you next time
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