Not a Classroom Teacher

This week I was able to visit and encourage other homeschooling moms at an evening meeting at Panera Bread (one of my favorite places). Homeschooling moms are often a misunderstood part of society which is okay, but we need support and encouragement from one another. We need to know that other moms are not experts either and that everyone has bad days, sometimes more than one.

I remember when my husband and I first decided that I would be a stay-at-home mom while I was pregnant with our first child. It had not been something I had anticipated or even really wanted. I had always pictured myself as a working mom. I was on a career track and had no problem with having my child or children in daycare, preschool and so on. Since we were moving and I was leaving my job very near to the time of our son's birth, it seemed like staying home would be a good choice for adjusting to our new home, new city, and of course, our new baby. When the school year started again, I would get a job as a teacher again. After three months with my baby boy, there was no way I was putting him in someone else's care so that I could go back to work. Never had I thought, even then, that I would be a stay-at-home, educating-at-home mom.

But now, more than 12 years later, I wouldn't change it for anything. As a mom who educates her children at home, I usually get one of two responses from people who don't home school. Either, "Wow, I could never do that! You must have a lot of patience." Or, "Really, how do you do that?" Both questions make me laugh. For the first, I know that patience is a virtue that I am still working on. I am not more patient than any other mother I know. I do get a lot of opportunities to practice though. Then there is the "how" question. Most people picture a little classroom set up in my living room with me teaching three different lessons all day long to my children.

Being a homeschooling mom is not the same as a classroom teacher. As a mom and a teacher, we have the opportunity to know our students better than anyone else does. We know their weaknesses and their strengths. We can educate our children differently than a classroom teacher can. We can also choose materials to use in the educating process that works with just one or two children instead of a full classroom of kids. We don't have to be concerned with classroom management or the other tidbits that a school tends to require of teachers. We can teach at our child's optimum time of the day. We can give breaks for physical activity and nutritious snacks. We can also create a classroom of different levels and use our older children to assist their younger siblings in the educational process.

So for all the home educating moms, remember that you do not have to replicate  a classroom or the methods of a classroom teacher.  You are not a classroom teacher, you are a mom (or dad) that gets to stay home and teach your child.  Enjoy the freedom you have to help your child learn and discover all that they can.