Wish You Were Paid to Homeschool Your Children?

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Barbara Frank

(UPDATE 10/16/18 SEE BELOW)

With the economy being the way it is, most of us could use some extra income. That makes the idea of being paid to homeschool our children pretty tempting, at least at first.

After all, if we weren’t homeschooling our children, we could be out in the workforce bringing in some much-needed income. I once worked out that by staying home to homeschool my kids, I’ve missed out on over a million dollars in income. I guess you have to be really convinced about the superiority of homeschooling to give up that kind of money.

In New Zealand, the government actually pays parents to homeschool their children. It’s not a fortune: the pay starts at $743 per year for the first child, with lesser amounts for additional children. But it would cover a nice quantity of books, software and field trips, that’s for sure.

The writer of the New Zealand article I just linked to thinks we need a program like this in the U.S. I don’t agree. The problem with taking money from the government is that you open yourself up to being told what to do and how to do it. This is the same danger that many people ignore regarding state-run virtual schools.

There’s an old saying: “He who pays the piper calls the tune.” It’s true of employers, and it’s also true of governments. I don’t want government money. I just want to be free to choose how to educate my kids.

Do you feel the same way? Or are you ready for a paycheck?

UPDATE 10/16/18: In the eight (!) years since I wrote this post, I believe it’s become even harder for families to live on one income, because housing and health insurance costs have skyrocketed. That’s why I imagine the desire to be paid to homeschool is greater than ever, because it’s so hard for one parent to stay home. That said, a split schedule where one parent works while the other homeschools the kids may be your best option if you live in an area with a very high cost of living. Ultimately, getting paid to homeschool your children would still be a risky proposition because you’re letting the government tell you what to do.

Angry Dads

Posted on September 28, 2010 by Barbara Frank

My husband sent me this video (yes, we email back and forth even though he’s in the next room) and told me he understood this dad’s frustration.

After watching it, I had to agree. I know this dad scared most of the kids on the bus, but he was defending his daughter, who has cerebral palsy. Maybe now the culprits will leave her alone, and the others will be too scared to ever pick on her.

I am so glad we homeschool our son…..I can’t imagine how hard this kind of situation would be for him, and how angry my husband and I would be if bullies were tormenting our son on the bus.

iPads for Homeschooling: A Pain or a Godsend?

Posted on September 25, 2010 by Barbara Frank

When my grandparents went to school, they carried along a little slate (chalk board) to do their schoolwork as directed by their teachers.

When I went to school, we used textbooks that were owned by the school.

Today’s schoolkids have begun using iPads for doing schoolwork and reading textbooks. Advantages including saving the cost of print books and never being able to say they lost their homework.

I’m wondering how useful this would be for homeschooling. For one thing, homeschoolers aren’t usually the wealthiest people in the world, and iPads aren’t cheap (though we can expect the price to come down over time.) And if you buy one for each child, well, now you’re really talking a few bucks (the Duggars would need a home equity loan to pay for iPads for everyone!)

You’d also have to block out Facebook and Twitter and all the rest of the social media suspects, or no one would get any of their schoolwork done.

So what do you think? I’m removing the affordability factor by asking: if someone gave you $500 per child to buy iPads for homeschooling, would you do it? Do you think it would make homeschooling easier or harder?

How to Homeschool (Simply and Peacefully)

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Barbara Frank

Sometimes I feel like homeschooling has become too overwhelming.

I mean, it’s great that the homeschooling movement has grown so much over the past 25 years, but now that there are so many homeschoolers out there with all sorts of different theories on how to homeschool (true confessions: I’m one of them), I can’t imagine being a newbie and trying to figure out which way to go.

Back when I was a newbie, there were only a few voices out there telling us how to do this. My favorites were Raymond and Dorothy Moore. They had a calming way about them that left me feeling more confident after reading their books.

Recently I found a post which describes their method of homeschooling very well. If you’re looking for some common-sense homeschooling advice, you’ll find it right here.

The Cost of Not Teaching History

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Barbara Frank

Schools are increasingly reducing the amount of history taught to today’s children. A while back I noted in one of my newsletters that in North Carolina schools, there’s a proposal to stop teaching events in U.S. history that occurred before 1877. Meanwhile, in England they’re reducing and sometimes even eliminating the study of history in schools.

This is tragic. Are 21^st century citizens so self-centered that they think they’re too sophisticated and technologically advanced to learn anything by studying the past? It’s starting to look that way. I guess the educrats who make these decisions have chosen to ignore George Santayana’s warning that “(T)hose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Thank goodness homeschooling families have the freedom to choose to study history. I like to think that many of our homeschool grads will use the wisdom they’ve acquired from studying history to help straighten out our country when they become adults. We’ll certainly need their help, the way things are going these days.