Homeschooling: You Can Do It

Do you believe you can't homeschool?

There are a multitude of reasons parents believe they can't homeschool.

I say you can homeschool. I can say it because I homeschool.

I can't homeschool because I'm a single mom.

So am I. I have homeschooled two sets of kids on my own.

The first set of kids, now in their 20s, were homeschooled after their father and I split up. The second set (ages 10 and 15) are being homeschooled solely by me because their father died 3 years ago.

You can do it.

I have to work, so I can't homeschool.

So do I. I'm a single mom and the children have no father. I have no choice except to work. I have worked all manner of jobs and shifts over the years. 

• I have worked evenings so that I could homeschool in the day. 
• I've had work-at-home jobs. 
• I've owned my own business which allows me to create my own schedule. 

You can do it.

I'm am struggling financially.

So am I. So are a lot of two-income, two-parent households. There is no perfect situation. My experience is that sending my kids to school was a much bigger expense than keeping them at home. Let me show you.

• School clothing. I don't have to buy separate clothing for school. 
• School supplies. Yes, I have to buy pencils, paper and such things. I don't, however, have to buy all this stuff in addition to spending a huge amount of money on clothing. 
• Additional costs throughout the year. Note that many schools are adding additional fees and costs, such as laptops onto their standard supply requirements. There are also field trips, year books, transportation costs, extracurricular costs and special occasion activities. These costs can easily add up to $1000 per year per child. 

I buy my kids clothes when they need them. I get school supplies when I can (and usually at a discount store) and most of what we do is free by using living books instead of textbooks. For the 2012-13 school year, I spent about $30 on basics such as pencils and paper and $6 on books on my Kindle. $36. 

There are all sorts of ways to make homeschooling affordable.

You can do it.

I have special needs kids.

So do I. I have homeschooled children with a range of issues from A.D.H.D. to Aspergers, dyslexia to bipolar disorder. Some of them have more than one of these. It can be done. I'm not saying it's always easy, but my kids have attended public and private school. I can attest that sending them to school is not easier. If anything, I found it more difficult.

When they're in school, you don't see them as much. You only experience the afternoons and evenings with them. Trying to finish what they started elsewhere (homework) is not simple, because you've missed the beginnings of the child's experience. You may have missed where their challenge began that day. 

You may only hear the teacher's version of misunderstandings or behavior issues. You may hear your child's version, but this is a child. You can't always count on their under-developed perception. Sometimes, the child doesn't tell you things that you need to be told.

Trust me. It's not easier.

You can do it.

I have challenges.

So do I. I have fibromyalgia. 

Fibromyalgia can impact a day. I am often fatigued, my muscles inflamed and painful. I haven't experienced a painless day in over a decade. Cold and rain increase all symptoms, including fibrofog. During those times, I can't learn new things, create new memories or retain anything. Those are the days when "I can't think!" is my catch phrase. 

When I wake in the mornings, my body is almost rigid with muscle stiffness and aching. For the first 2 hours of my day, all I can do it sit. I must wait for my muscles to relax enough that I can walk without leg pain or straighten my back so that I don't look like I stepped off an evolutionary chart. My day begins 2-3 hours after I wake.

Can you see me trying to get up, run around getting kids ready and out there door to take them to school? I'm not physically capable of that. OK, perhaps I could do it, but I'd be in much more pain if I did and probably the chronic fatigue would cause them to be late to school regularly because I'd oversleep. (Never mind their own challenge of not being able to be awake in the day and asleep at night.)

Seriously. You can do this.

I have no one who will support my choice to homeschool.

Neither did I. In fact, I homeschooled for 10 years without knowing any other homeschoolers. All that's changed these days, but once upon a time I couldn't leave the house during the day without answering questions about why my kids weren't in school. When I explained we homeschooled, people didn't even know what that meant. Yeah. I homeschooled in those days.

Currently, I live in a town with a population of 1600. How many homeschoolers do you think are in this town? Just me and my two daughters. That's it.

These days, even if you live in an area that doesn't have a large homeschool community, you can at least find support and information through online groups and blogs.

You can do it.

You are not alone.

Never feel you're the only one. You're not. 

If a single mom, who has fibromyalgia and has to work to be the sole bread winner, for special needs kids, living in a town where she is the sole homeschool mom can do this....

YOU can do it.

Perhaps you have other obstacles. Visit I can't homeschool because... for more encouragement. Still struggling? Let me help. Check out my homeschool consultation service.

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Happy Homeschooling!