(The 'best teacher' is the one that knows your child the best & is committed to your child.)I am going to lump the next three myths all together. Here they are.
Myth #4 People that homeschool have to have a teaching degree or they can't teach.
Myth #5 People that homeschool have to be able to teach all subjects.
Myth #6 Homeschool students can only be as smart as their parents.
You do not have to have a teaching degree or some kind of extra special education. What you do have to have is commitment, determination, love, and a conviction that this is what you are to do. The good thing is that the longer you homeschool the stronger those things usually become. However, the down side is that when you first start you are nervous and a bit unsure. Lots of questions are running around in your head like, "Can I really do this", "What was I thinking", and "Who do I think I am trying to do this?" Having a good support group is helpful in this area. They can help encourage you and let you see all the other Moms that are doing this crazy thing! ;-)
No, you do not have to be able to teach ALL subjects. As a matter of fact, you teach a lot less than you think when the children get older. The better they can read the more they learn on their own. There is a ton of curriculum that is geared toward the student doing it on there own. As the parent you do a lot of planning, delegating, organizing, scheduling, and facilitating. There are many ways to help your child learn things you can't teach. There are friends, family members, homeschool co-ops, tutors, classes at colleges or other places. If you think about it when you were in school (the higher grades) you didn't have one teacher that taught all subjects. It is better to get the experts to help you in each subject. Using all that we have available to us we can get the help of the experts for our children.
Because of what I said above you can see why "homeschool students are not only as smart as their parents". My daughter is currently in an Algebra II class. She is getting help from a teacher that is very smart in that area. This is not an easy subject for my daughter but she will do a lot better in this class than if I were to teach it to her. I am not good at Algebra and don't really know anything about it. In Biology, I am not an expert either. We are relying on a great curriculum for that though. You can see it here. This curriculum is taught in a conversational style so it feels like a teacher talking to them. It comes with videos and pronunciations you can actually hear. We didn't purchase this but you can also get an MP3 Audio CD. Then your child can actually listen to the teacher saying it too. (This is just one of many examples. There are a lot more things out there like this that are available. ) I am learning interesting things right along with my daughters. That has been one of the many homeschooling surprises for me personally. I have learned a lot too.
Myth #4 People that homeschool have to have a teaching degree or they can't teach.
Myth #5 People that homeschool have to be able to teach all subjects.
Myth #6 Homeschool students can only be as smart as their parents.
You do not have to have a teaching degree or some kind of extra special education. What you do have to have is commitment, determination, love, and a conviction that this is what you are to do. The good thing is that the longer you homeschool the stronger those things usually become. However, the down side is that when you first start you are nervous and a bit unsure. Lots of questions are running around in your head like, "Can I really do this", "What was I thinking", and "Who do I think I am trying to do this?" Having a good support group is helpful in this area. They can help encourage you and let you see all the other Moms that are doing this crazy thing! ;-)
No, you do not have to be able to teach ALL subjects. As a matter of fact, you teach a lot less than you think when the children get older. The better they can read the more they learn on their own. There is a ton of curriculum that is geared toward the student doing it on there own. As the parent you do a lot of planning, delegating, organizing, scheduling, and facilitating. There are many ways to help your child learn things you can't teach. There are friends, family members, homeschool co-ops, tutors, classes at colleges or other places. If you think about it when you were in school (the higher grades) you didn't have one teacher that taught all subjects. It is better to get the experts to help you in each subject. Using all that we have available to us we can get the help of the experts for our children.
Because of what I said above you can see why "homeschool students are not only as smart as their parents". My daughter is currently in an Algebra II class. She is getting help from a teacher that is very smart in that area. This is not an easy subject for my daughter but she will do a lot better in this class than if I were to teach it to her. I am not good at Algebra and don't really know anything about it. In Biology, I am not an expert either. We are relying on a great curriculum for that though. You can see it here. This curriculum is taught in a conversational style so it feels like a teacher talking to them. It comes with videos and pronunciations you can actually hear. We didn't purchase this but you can also get an MP3 Audio CD. Then your child can actually listen to the teacher saying it too. (This is just one of many examples. There are a lot more things out there like this that are available. ) I am learning interesting things right along with my daughters. That has been one of the many homeschooling surprises for me personally. I have learned a lot too.
One of my daughters has a fascination with words & language. She has done a lot of research on the meanings of words/names and root words. This is not something I taught her but something she wanted to learn on her own. She knows more than I do about a lot of things. My other daughter is the same way. She knows a lot of things that she can explain to me. It is really wonderful that our children can surpass us in knowledge & education. Isn't that what we all want for our children anyway...to be better and to do better than us?
If you haven't read the other 3
homeschooling myths you can find them by clicking on the links below.
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