Homeschooling Myth #3: Mom [or Dad] Needs to Be a Teacher

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Linda Dobson debunks the homeschooling myth that the parent needs to be the teacher. Linda owns and maintains the website Parent at the Helm, and is the author of many homeschool books. .

Those  of  us  who  started  our  homeschool  journey  with  school-at-home were  usually  under  the  spell  of  this  myth,  too. 

Our  conditioning  led  us  to believe  we  had  to  don  yet  another  hat  and  stand  at  the  head  of  the  class pouring forth facts, acting as we presumed teachers are supposed to act.

There  are  two  misconceptions  rolled  into  this  one  myth.  The  first  and most  obvious  is  you  have  already  spent  years  filling  the  role  of  teacher under the label of parent. With every interaction with your child during her first  five  years  of  life  you  teach  her  with  your  words,  your  actions,  your examples.  With  your  guidance  she  learned  how  to  walk,  talk,  throw  and catch  a  ball,  ride  a  bike,  drink  from  a  cup,  kiss  good-night.  These  feats didn’t  require  a  different  hat;  they  required  your  commitment,  your  love, and your trust that when she was ready your child would accomplish all of these and more.

Consider just one of these accomplishments.

Let’s take the incredibly  complex  action  of  talking  and  making  sense  of  sounds  as  they become  meaningful  communication.  You  didn’t  have  a  text  book  (or accompanying  teacher’s  manual).  You  didn’t  break  the  subject  of  speech into  minute  sections  and  drill  her  endlessly  on  each  piece.  You  simply spoke with her, encouraging her babbling each time you replied and smiled and hugged her.

She  listened. She  experimented.  She  happily  drooled  while  rolling  and
teasing  her  tongue  into  new  positions  until  that  momentous  day  she
stumbled upon “Dada.”

Did  you  look at  her  with scorn and say, “The proper way to pronounce
your father’s name is Dad (points off for adding an A at the end) or Daddy
(go  back  and  say  it  fifty  times  with  a  Y)?”  You,  as  parent/teacher,  giddy
with happiness in what she did accomplish, showed her through your love
and  approval  that  she  was  on  the  right  track.  Her  inner  motivation
compelled her; your attention guided her. She learned.

Read the rest at Parent at the Helm

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