Am I the only person who thinks these people could take advantage of their downtime by homeschooling their kids? Given the state of the schools today, it seems like a win-win situation: the unemployed person finds something worthwhile to do with their days, and their child or teen actually learns a few things by working with their parent. Many of these parents aren’t going to find a job anytime soon. Given the changes in our economy, homeschooling might even turn out to be a long-term solution for both parent and child.

After all, homeschooling isn’t that hard, and teaching a child can be done much more efficiently at home than in a classroom of 30 students (62 if you live in Detroit.) Considering that many high schools students now text their way through class, it’s pretty easy to learn more at home than at school these days.

With all the great educational tools available in public libraries and on the Internet (for instance, there’s a nice free math and science education just waiting for young people right here), what can the schools do for kids today that we parents can’t? (Please don’t tell me that football games and proms are essential, because an entire generation of homeschooled adults have shown that they aren’t!)

Some people believe that the public schools are already going down, as Gary North has stated in his excellent article on the subject. The quality of education continues its slide into the abyss, and funding is likely to be cut, thanks to the financial problems most states and the Feds are struggling with.

I think that dying schools and unemployed parents could be blessings in disguise for American families. Unemployed parents who decide to take advantage of their newly found free time to facilitate their children’s learning can develop closer relationships with them while giving them a better, more individualized education that they can get in school. At the same time, they’ll combat the demoralizing feelings that come with being unemployed because they’ll be spending their days doing something that’s important and personally rewarding. They may even find that they feel better about themselves than they did when they were employed. Win-win, indeed!

We know from our own childhood experience that the school day is full of interruptions and inconsistencies. Whenever you put 30 kids in a room, you create an environment that’s not exactly conducive to concentration.

But something’s changed since we were young, something that makes it even harder to learn: cell phones. Where I live, the high schools banned cell phones until 2007, when they allowed students to carry them as long as they were turned off and put away during class.

Guess what? It was too hard to enforce that rule, so now kids text throughout class. Teachers are worried that students could be texting test answers to each other. Perhaps, but at the very least, I think we can assume they aren’t paying attention to the teacher if they’re busy texting:

“Cell phone use continues to grow. Texting is more common, and many students are adept at sending silent text messages from their pockets. They don’t even look at the keypad.”

One teacher said, “Every kid has one, and they’re used covertly, regularly.”

I understand that today’s kids are good at multitasking, but I doubt that they can absorb much information while they’re busy corresponding with other people via texting.

Homeschooling parents needn’t worry whether their kids are learning as much as their publicly schooled friends. I’d say they’re way ahead of them if their home life affords them regular uninterrupted periods of time for reading, writing and doing math. Seriously, if kids can text during class, public high school has become a joke.

Are you intimidated by the thought of homeschooling your kids all the way through high school? I was.

Do you worry that you’re not up to the challenge of homeschooling your teens? I did.

Do you wonder what it’s like, living with teenagers every day? I was pretty curious about that myself.

I never thought I’d homeschool my children all the way through high school. I wasn’t even sure I could do it. But I did, and I’m sure glad I did. But it wasn’t always easy, and there were times when I needed some encouragement.

You can have that encouragement, and get a little peek into the world of homeschooling teenagers in the process, with “Homeschooling Your Teenagers.” It’s an eBook with eleven articles* from the archives of “The Imperfect Homeschooler.” These articles are no longer available online….but you can have them for yourself now in Amazon Kindle eBook format for only 99 cents (reg. $7.95) by clicking here.

*Plus, there’s a list of links to online resources that will help you homeschool your teen for free!

If you’ve ever heard Dr. James Dobson speak to a group, you know how engaging and informative he can be. In this video, part 1 of the “Life on the Edge” series, Dobson talks with teens about how to make decisions within God’s will once they become adults.

What are the toughest decisions we have to make as adults? Leave your answer as a comment on this post by Friday, April 2, and you’ll be automatically entered into a drawing for this video, “Preparing for the Challenges of Adulthood,” part of a video series I recommended in my book Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers, where I wrote:

I highly recommend this video series for its common sense and Christian attitude about the issues and decisions our teenagers will face as adults.

Stay tuned for more giveaways!

Are any of your kids worrywarts? How do you help your kids handle nervous feelings or worries? Leave your answer as a comment on this post by Friday, March 26, and you’ll be automatically entered into a drawing for a hardback copy of How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie.

Carnegie was the best-selling author of last week’s giveaway book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. In How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, he uses the true stories of people of the past, including presidents Abraham Lincoln and Dwight D. Eisenhower, to teach readers how to get out of the habit of worrying. Originally published in 1944, this book is still in print.

Stay tuned for more giveaways!

I think homeschoolers have proven that the lack of socialization myth is just that: a myth. But the fact is that everyone, homeschooled or not, will meet all sorts of people during the course of their lives, and sometimes they’ll have questions about how to deal with them.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie has been in print since it was first published in 1936 because Carnegie was so good at explaining how to get along with people. This particular copy is a vintage copy, but I don’t know the exact year it was printed: inside it says “Copyright 1936, 85^th printing.”

This is one of the books on the Recommended Reading List of my book Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers. As I said in that book:

This book is especially valuable for homeschooled students, because they will be heading out into a world where they may face some negative experiences and people that they missed out on by not attending public school.

What do you think about homeschoolers and socialization? Leave your answer as a comment on this post by Friday, March 19, and you’ll be automatically entered into a drawing for this hardback copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People.

NOTE: This contest has ended. Sorry if you didn’t win….do enter this week’s giveaway and try again 

What’s the most important thing you want to teach your children so they’ll be prepared to live on their own someday? Is it how to budget? How to cook? How to live within their means and debt-free? Or something else?

Leave your answer as a comment on this post by Friday, March 12, and you’ll be automatically entered into a drawing for a hardback copy of Life on the Edge, one of the books on the Recommended Reading List of my book Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers. As I said in that book:

Dr. Dobson discusses important subjects like choosing a career and a marriage partner, as well as just dealing with the ups and downs of life as a young adult in today’s society. His Christian faith is always evident in what he writes, yet his practical advice is valuable for readers of any faith.

Stay tuned for more giveaways!

NOTE: This giveaway is now closed…sorry if you didn’t win. Do try again with the 3/12 giveaway drawing