“Anything you can learn, I can learn better”

This is the homeschooler’s version of the song “Anything you can do, I can do better” from the movie “The Pajama Game”. But it isn’t the student who’s singing the song - it’s the teacher (parent).

When people find out that we homeschool, a lot of them say that’s something they just couldn’t do. They state reasons such as they couldn’t stand their kids, their kids wouldn’t listen to them, or they want the socialization that traditional schools provide. But the reason I hear most often is that they feel they don’t have the knowledge needed to teach. They feel you need to have a college degree, teacher’s training, or be really smart. Those may help, but they aren’t really needed. You just have to stay one step ahead of your child.

This is really easy at the beginning. Jim and I skip preschool and kindergarten entirely. We feel there’s nothing academic that children this age need to learn. They don’t need structured play to prepare them for school, either. All they need is time to explore and play and be with their family. I’m really good at those things.

Next they enter the elementary grades. You don’t have to really do anything to stay ahead of your child here. Can you add? Do you know how to read? Can you print your name? Can you write in cursive? Granted, some schools teach more than just the simple basics, but that’s all fluff. No first grader needs to be introduced to fractions. Any question your child may have (“Why are flames blue at the bottom?”) you can find answered in a book. Teaching reading isn’t all that difficult - it mostly involves lots of practice with the child. You already know everything that your child at this age needs to know. What could they possibly need to know that you don’t already know? Do you really fear that you aren’t functioning at a second grade level?

Our children then proceed to middle school. The waters may begin to get a little uncertain here. I think the best textbooks for science and social studies are library books. While we may not know some of the content ahead of time, we can read and learn with our child. This information can always be supplemented with dictionaries, encyclopedias, and internet searches. Some math may be new, but it’s not too high level yet. We can get a good math textbook and work through it with our child. The teacher’s book and answer keys can be very helpful. All we need to do is stay one lesson ahead of our child and look it up, look it up, and look it up.

High school is next and, admittedly, things get a lot trickier here as we begin to look at foreign languages, geometry, chemistry, and other such classes. Sometimes now the issue isn’t necessarily learning it ahead of our child, but knowing where to go to get the needed teaching. For foreign languages we have used computer courses we’ve bought in office supply stores. These work with not only words and grammar, but also pronunciation. ‘Experts’ among our families and friends can help us. Our son who is taking calculus in college has become a resource for two of our children who are studying advanced math and precalculus. You can buy full curriculums, video courses, and even all the equipment needed to do science labs. Some families make use of tutors, community college courses, and homeschool co-op classes. While using too many resources away from the home can dilute some of the advantages of homeschooling, homeschooling parents does not have to feel they need to know everything about everything. There are getting to be a lot of resources out there for us to use.

Of course, having all of those resources available does not mean that we can’t keep learning ahead of even our high school age children. Some friends of ours wanted their children to play string instruments, so the father learned how to play the violin and taught them. I thought that was great! We limit ourselves too much. As ‘old’ as we are, we still have the ability to grow and learn.

I hope that parents aren’t deterred from homeschooling because of the fear of not having the knowledge needed to teach. Homeschooling is much more than academics. Its benefits extend far beyond scholastics. I would hate for families to miss out on those advantages for the sake of being too worried about book learning.

“Anything you can learn, I can learn better” is not a boastful remark. It is a reminder to us parents that we have the ability to teach our children and we won’t be scared away. Yes, we can do this.

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