Only "Actual Teachers" Should Read This!

A virtual school had an advertisement with a parent testimonial stating: “We have found the K12 curriculum to be far above anything we could have done on our own, plus we have the added advantage of an actual teacher for help.”

I was just sitting there innocently, when this advertisement jumped out and bit me! It was an unprovoked attack! What a frustrating, frustrating thing to read! I’m done homeschooling now. In retrospect, I know with 100% certainty that I was an ACTUAL TEACHER! Don’t be fooled! Homeschooling parents ARE actual teachers - the best possible teachers for their children.

That same virtual school had another advertisement that said: “Student/student interaction is also actively encouraged, so (this virtual school’s) students are always well-educated and well-socialized.”

Ugh! I suppose nothing drives homeschoolers crazier than the “socialization issue.” And to hear that coming from a “homeschool virtual academy” was completely unexpected. I think that groups that worry about children being “well-socialized” are NOT homeschooling groups. It’s one of those “ah ha” statements that really indicates a lot about a group.

You can confidently stand your ground anytime someone tells you that you need a classroom experience to be “well-socialized.” Be polite, but firm, and explain that your homeschooled children ARE well-socialized, and they didn’t need a classroom environment to get that way. Friends and family, people of all ages, and the normal comings and goings of your life provide all you need to “socialize” your children.

When my children graduated from homeschool, they were both given full-tuition scholarships to their first choice university. We were so excited when that happened, and I was thrilled that our academic work was valued so highly by the college. And then I heard the truth about the scholarship. There were a couple of thousand students admitted to the college that year but only 100 were invited to an all-day competition for a full-tuition scholarship. Of those 100, only ten were chosen for the full-tuition scholarship.

Homeschoolers brought home 20% of those prizes that year (grin!).

I found out that my boys weren’t chosen for their academics at all! All 100 kids invited had great grades and SAT scores. Instead, the students were evaluated based on how they interacted with the other students and adults when they thought nobody was looking.

Did you catch that? They were given the scholarship because of their socialization skills!

We live at home with our kids, and we see their occasionally rotten behavior more than anyone else – maybe that’s all we can see in front of us! But we can also spend all day molding and shaping our children, and that’s why socialization isn’t a problem. We have all that time needed to help them work through those socialization issues in the home.

I saw an advertisement for another online school. Their advertisement said: “One to one student/teacher interaction…. give your child an education comparable to the best private schools” and “You can enroll… to receive curriculum and teacher service.”

I know that it’s the season for curriculum choices, and you will be FLOODED with homeschool advertisements. I just want to point out that with independent homeschooling you ALSO have a one-to-one student-teacher interaction. And you don’t need online help to get it! And homeschoolers have MORE than just a great student-teacher ratio because a homeschooling parent is MORE than a teacher, not less. Parents are love-givers of their children, not just care-givers. It’s the love that makes all the difference. It’s the love that will help us know what is best for our children, and it is love that will give us the wisdom to guide them into adulthood.

May I also suggest that we shouldn’t want to be compared to ANY school, not even a good one. We have a saying in our family, “Never compare – someone always gets hurt.” That is true if you are comparing yourself to other schools as well. We don’t want to be like “the best private school” or an “award winning public school,” or even like someone else’s homeschool. Instead, we want to be the best school FOR OUR CHILD. To do that, you have to have LOVE. Not a certified teacher, not special training – just the knowledge of your own child.

Don’t stress about being as good as “the best.” Strive to do what’s right for your child. That *is* the best education. With that in mind, we can be our own “teacher service,” and homeschool with confidence.

And then there is the ad for an accredited national high school that says “Honors and AP courses are available.” Just to be perfectly clear, honors and AP courses are available to homeschoolers as well. Anyone can take an AP test – even homeschoolers! If you give an AP or CLEP exam, or teach a subject in great depth, then you can give honors designation for that as well. This particular program emphasizes that it is an “Accredited Program.” Did you know that accreditation isn’t necessary for college admission? Often a hang-up with high schools, colleges are fairly used to dealing with high schools that are not accredited. Often colleges don’t really know if a school is accredited or not! That’s why they ask for standardized test scores (SAT or ACT) from everyone, not just homeschoolers. So don’t jump through hoops just to get accreditation, because it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

We didn’t go the accredited route, and both of my students we admitted to all four colleges they applied to, with full-tuition scholarships to Seattle Pacific University. The "accredited national high school" mentioned earlier offers a “High School Diploma.” That may be, but my homeschool offered a high school diploma as well. I bought mine at www.homeschooldiploma.com, in case you are interested.

This advertisement had one other part that I really loved, “Support from highly qualified, certified teachers.” Now I’ll agree that sometimes it does help to get the support of an experienced teacher, but it does concern me when advertisers tout “certified teachers.” If you need support, then what you need is SUPPORT. That doesn’t need to come from someone who is certified in education. Many parents look to support from a homeschool consultant who truly knows homeschooling and can ENCOURAGE you in your homeschooling journey.

Four Things to Remember:

• Avoid programs that discourage or dissuade you from homeschooling


• Don’t accept the implication that you somehow aren’t qualified.


• Remember: you ARE an “actual teacher!”


• You are providing the social skills your kids need to shine in this world

Lee Binz is a veteran homeschooling mom of two and the owner of The HomeScholar, "Helping parents homeschool through high school." You can sign up for her free email newsletter The HomeScholar Record and get your daily dose of wisdom via e-mail from The HomeScholar Blog.