So…You Are Not a Homeschooler, Don’t Want To Be a Homeschooler and Frankly Think Homeschoolers Are Weird? Why You Should Still Consider Learning Tree

I know what you are thinking: “I don’t want to homeschool!” There are probably 5,000 reasons in your arsenal as to why homeschooling is a terrible idea. So why on earth, if you are 100% sure homeschooling is not right for you, would you consider this?

It is an excellent question. Maybe you shouldn’t. However, maybe you should. Clear? No, I suspect not. Let me help.

First ask yourself the following:

• Do I think the current public schools are a good fit for me and my child?
• Would you, if you could, send your child to a private school?
• Do you think class sizes are too big?
• Do you think SOLs are not the way to pace your child’s school experience?
• Are you willing to help with your child’s educational experience, but not willing to be 100% responsible for it?

If you answered yes to any or all of the above, keep reading. If you answered mostly no, then we are probably not a great fit for you. However, feel free to keep reading anyway.

Homeschooling Myth and Reality

The reality is that in a traditional homeschooling paradigm, the burden of teaching falls fully on parents. Either they have to teach subjects at which they are not great, or just don’t enjoy, or they have to find someone else to teach those subjects -- usually at a cost. It also requires them to find and coordinate art, music, physical education and social outlets. It often feels like more than a full-time job to do all of this. There is a constant fear that no matter how much you do, it is never “enough.”

It is hard to find all the resources to give your child the education you wanted when you decided to homeschool. Sometimes it feels if the idea of homeschooling in your head was a far more dreamy endeavor that the reality of it has become.

However, the massive benefit to homeschooling is that YOU decide what your child learns. So, if, for instance, your child is an avid reader, she isn’t stuck reading at a 1st grade level along with the class, getting bored and frustrated; instead, she can skip ahead to more challenging books. It also means if she struggles with a subject or concept, you can take as much time as needed to make sure she is comfortable with the material before moving on. There are no looming SOLs forcing your hand or setting your pace.

Nothing is Perfect….Nope, Not Even This!

In public (or even private) schools, you have little control over the curriculum content. You have little say on policies, either. That said, you also have a lot less individual responsibility for your child’s education. Your children also have a built in peer group.

With homeschooling, you have complete control over your child’s educational experience. But that also means the burden rests squarely on your shoulders. You also have to piecemeal extracurricular activities and schedule social time with a peer group for your child.

Here’s the idea behind Learning Tree. As a homeschooling cooperative, we, the parents, will have input on curriculum content. You will share the responsibility with a teacher and with the other parents. The multi-level classroom will give children the chance to be grouped by ability for some activities, by age for others, and will allow for group learning activities and peer-assisted learning. Your children will have a built-in peer group, with whom they will be able to interact both in an educational setting and during unstructured outdoor time and lunch time.

So what is the downside? Obviously, there will be a financial cost, which we hope will be minor compared to private school tuition. And of course there will be a time commitment, because part of the cooperative experience is pitching in and helping out. You will be responsible for helping with the education of your child. Perhaps you don’t want to teach. That is okay. Instead you might do library runs, or keep the books, or line up guests to come and teach, or find field trips. Finally, while you do have a voice in the shaping of the school, so do other families. That could mean compromise. It also means that every family is very important to the overall growth and success of the school.

So why compromise? Why bother? Why pay? Imagine what your child’s educational experience will be like when he/she has not only a teacher, but a group of parents to help teach that currently have expertise in:

Gardening
Building
Dancing
Creative Writing
Art
Business
Music
Social Work
Foreign Languages
Ancient History
Crafts
Cooking

And these parents have friends that have offered to help with:

Cultural studies
Art History
Computers
Science
Geometry
Plays/Drama
Papyrus Making
Public Speaking


And the list grows as we grow! We have access to a rich community. This will create an amazingly diverse and rewarding school experience. To sum up, it is homeschooling, but with the support of a teacher and community. I guess you could think of it as Homeschooling lite, or traditional school on steroids. You pick.


We can begin by doing small things at the local level, like planting community gardens or looking out for our neighbors. That is how change takes place in living systems, not from above but from within, from many local actions occurring simultaneously.
-- Grace Lee Boggs

"Average people and the average community can change the world. You can do it just based on common sense, determination, persistence and patience."
~ Lois Gibbs