More than a cog in an achievement machine
Why we plan on being long-term homeschoolers
When you do things differently to how most people do things, you get asked “Why?” a lot.
We homeschool. That makes us different to about 99% of families in Australia. I’ve explained why we homeschool before (although there were a lot less of you back then, so if you missed it you can catch the reason here). While two years have passed since then, our why remains pretty much the same – although we have found bonus reasons, like the ability to eat peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, spend time at museums and zoos out of the busy school holiday peak, go camping whenever we want, and not having to trade off family time for extracurricular activities.
So today I’m going to answer the common follow up question I get – “Are you planning on homeschooling the whole way through high school?”
The short answer is yes, we are planning to homeschool the whole way through – with the qualifier that it’s hard to know what we will be doing 8 years from now (about the time my eldest will be coming up to the last years in his schooling journey) given that 8 years ago I wasn’t thinking about homeschooling at all. A lot can change, and we’ll continue to adapt and adjust to what we believe is best for our family.
The long answer is that I think homeschooling will set my kids up better for their future careers than high school can. And I say that as someone who did very well at high school.
High school:
- Teaches kids that they can have an interest in only 5-6 subjects
- Teaches kids that they only need to retain information until they have sat the exam
- Teaches kids that all their learning can be reflected in a number or grade
And while all of these teachings can be circumnavigated by teachers and parents who make the effort to foster a deeper love of learning, the truth is that it’s difficult to succeed when you’re working within a system that treats children as “cogs in an achievement machine” (thanks Teacher Tom for that quote).
You do the homework well so that you can do the assignment well so that you can do the test well so that you can do the exam well so that you can get a good score. The promise is that with that good score you can now do whatever you want in life, study anything you please. But in the effort to get that good score we don’t give kids much opportunity to figure out what they like to learn or what they want to do.
Homeschooling allows us to figure out our destination before we plan the journey. We’re not working our way through an arbitrary curriculum with the goal of getting a good score and only then deciding what to do with that good score. Instead, we’ve been able to meet people with careers that interest us, such as pilots and park rangers, and ask how they got into their field. As the kids get older, we’ll be able to start working towards those careers. Homeschooling provides the flexibility to gain meaningful work experience, get qualifications that lead towards a job in a specific field or even start university study before their same aged peers will even have graduated high school.
Just the other day, Mr 6 and Mr 8 spent half an hour working with park rangers to dig up a picnic table. They loved it! And at 6 and 8, they were able to get the same quality work experience as the 15-year-old high school student who was also doing work experience – but they were choosing to be there instead of being there because their school told them to.
Homeschooling also lets us explore a wider range of subjects. Instead of having to choose 5 or 6 and being stuck with those subjects for the next few years, we can choose anything and everything, moving flexibly between topics or even combining them in innovative ways. We also have the option to pursue passions, dedicating time and effort to excel in an area. It’s no wonder that many successful people were homeschooled; from Simon Biles and Serena Williams to Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers, homeschooling allows both the flexibility to explore many options and the time to commit to the pursuit of excellence.
In short, homeschooling through high school makes sense for us. Not only do I believe that it will prepare my kids well for a future career, but it also gives them the opportunity to really take the time to explore what that career will be. They can spend their teenage years gaining practical experience and meaningful knowledge for their career, instead of spending them trying to retain information they don’t care about just to ace a test.
I'd love to hear your thoughts! What else would you like to know about homeschooling, either in general or more about how it looks in our family?
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Beck xx
Curious about the research on this topic.
Love that you’re talking about this! Like this, no one knows exactly what the future holds, but I have zero intention to send them to high school. Homeschooling t through the high school years just makes so much sense!!