Wait, what? There are school teachers who homeschool their children? That doesn't make sense. I wonder how they do it... Do you consider what you are doing as a "school-at-home"? I don’t know about your particular situation. But I do know that trying to recreate a school in your house – with a classroom, schedule, curriculum – is one extreme end of the homeschooling spectrum. It's usually adopted by parents who grew up in the schooling system and don't know and/or trust any other way. Or by parents who were homeschooled themselves with a strict recreation of school practices. The other end of the homeschooling spectrum is unschooling. That is, child-led learning where children are free to explore passions & interests. Beyond that, there is radical unschooling where children are free to do whatever they want, eat whatever they want, whenever they want, as well as brush their teeth & shower if/when they want, for example. Parents choosing either of these extremes are usually steadfast in their opinion. Yet most, if not all, homeschooling families are somewhere in between, to some degree – a greyish version, sitting somewhere along the black + white spectrum. How you or any parents choose to homeschool their children will vary. However, it’s valuable to pay attention to one kind of parent, and their particular path of choice – that is, those school teachers mentioned just a moment ago. School teachers who have been working within their school education system for years, often decades, know that a classroom-like environment is not only not the best way for children to learn, it might even be one of the worst.

Rarely does a classroom environment promote creativity, self-reflection or resilience.

Again, these teachers know the system intimately. They have seen it fail countless children.

Both of my parents were public school teachers. And like most teachers who choose to homeschool their own children, they tended to urge closer to the unschooling approach. However, not that radical approach I just briefly mentioned. We had boundaries that we understood and that were diligently applied. Although they did it, my parents weren’t even aware of the term "unschooling". They weren’t joining a movement or dogmatic ideology - they weren’t tied to one approach. They just recognized from years of experience that kids need space to explore. And anything that resembled a school classroom infringed upon that freedom. This came up recently in conversation with one of my oldest friends. He commented that he was really surprised - he had always assumed we had been taught in a strict academic sense, just because when we did start attending school, we excelled. I could see it broaden his perspective just finding out about another approach. Of course, the black + white ends of the homeschooling spectrum are just reference points. Every family will be a slightly different shade of grey, which is wonderful. With that said, I have a small challenge for you! Try this: Give yourself 10 minutes of quiet time to think deeply about where you currently see as the appropriate shade of grey for homeschooling. Try not to bawk at anything just because it's the opposite of your current view. In turn, this might give you time + space to explore why some parents choose to do what they do. After you try that, or if your mind just isn't clicking over, take time to read this article. It's long! But it's worth the read. Mick.