Don’t I need to be certified or trained to homeschool?
The simple and short answer is “No”
Have you seen the “Forky asks a Question” clips from ‘Toy Story 4’? As Forky would say,
“What is a teacher?”
Based on personal experience, I used to think a teacher needed a classroom and a pointer, to have gorgeous handwriting, a chalkboard, a classroom decked out in posters and maps, various color-coded charts for jobs, taking turns, behavior, and good deeds, rewards stickers or stamps, an endless supply of worksheets and pencils, and grade book.
What I now know is that a teacher is a person who helps people learn.
To be a parent is to be a teacher.
We teach our children how to walk, how to talk, to sing the ABCs, to write their name, how to count crackers on a plate, how to tie a shoe, how to cook eggs, how to take care of a pet or younger sibling, how to clean up a mess, how to dress themselves, how to ride a bike, to safely cross the street, what to do if there is a fire, how to apologize, the difference between right and wrong, what constitutes good manners, how to make good choices, about the circle of life, how to be a good friend, and the list goes on and on…
We don’t need to stop there! We can teach them to read, how to write, how to ask good questions, how to research answers, how to choose a good book, how to seek quality resources, how to debate, how to use logic, how to discover and observe, how to wonder, how to get lost in books, how to try something new, how to listen, how to sketch, how to seek answers to questions we don’t know, and how to never stop learning.
Our children are not buckets to be filled with knowledge. Instead of throwing information at them, what if we set out to teach them HOW to learn? Then they would never stop. Isn’t that the goal?
