“He must have been homeschooled.” Often people say such things to imply that a person is stupid or socially awkward. Twice in the last few weeks I’ve heard people say things like that. I just smiled, content that my homeschooled child is happy, learning above grade level, and keen to converse with peers and adults alike.
By contrast, substantial numbers of students in Colorado’s public schools learn below grade level and feel sad and hopeless. Obviously some kids don’t like homeschooling, while many kids love their public schools. Homeschooling works great for my family.
In case you hadn’t noticed, I periodically write updates about my family’s homeschooling journey. I figure I’m the only columnist in Colorado who also is a homeschool dad. I find the world of homeschooling fascinating, and it offers windows into education and childhood more broadly.
Last year, I wrote about how the Colorado State Board of Education eliminated a state-funded program my family was using to help cover homeschooling expenses. Hey, my family pays taxes too, so getting nothing in return for our education-directed tax dollars works out to be a raw deal.
This year, at his request, my fourth-grader enrolled in a local “enrichment” program, meaning a tax-funded program offered through the district one day per week for homeschoolers. My son very much enjoys this program. I’ve heard other parents suggest that these programs have to be fun and engaging to attract homeschooling families, who tend to readily change things up. On the finance side, I figure getting one-fifth of the value of my education-directed tax dollars is better than nothing.
Some amazing experiences
Recently the Denver Museum of Nature and Science hosted a talk by Kirk Johnson, formerly at the Denver museum and currently director of natural history at the Smithsonian, and the paleo artist Ray Troll. Troll also cohosts the podcast Paleo Nerds, which my son and I have spent hours following. Johnson and Troll have out several books together.
Our child loved this event so much that he pushed to hear the duo again the next night at the School of Mines. This event was smaller, so our kiddo got to ask Johnson and Troll several questions about their work. You don’t have to homeschool to take advantage of events like that, but as homeschoolers we’re always on the lookout for such opportunities.
Next time someone asks you if homeschoolers get sufficient opportunities for “socialization,” I hope you’ll picture my son excitedly asking questions of one of the world’s foremost paleontologists.
In March we attended a talk in Golden by geologist Donna Anderson about the deep time of Colorado. It’s amazing to think that the entirety of our state previously was covered by an interior seaway. Our fourth-grader was the youngest person at the talk. And Anderson included Troll’s famous “Ages of Rock” drawing that shows the main evolutionary stages of life.
In mineral club, our son wrote a paper about rubies and a story imagining himself as a paleontologist hunting for fossils in Antarctica. I don’t mention to him that he’s actually doing “school” work.
Our enrichment program recently hosted a parent-organized science fair. I was astonished by the dozens of entries. Each child, starting in kindergarten, presented their project to three judges. One kid bounced balls at different temperatures to see how that affected the bounce. A duo froze magnets to see if that affected their fields. Another child tested the ability of plants to oxygenate water. Our kid tested various designs of pasta bridges to see which would hold the most weight.
At home, we continue to go through the challenging Dimensions Math program by Singapore. We’re making good progress in Fix It Grammar; our child comfortably identifies adverbs and prepositional phrases and the like. Like his old man, our child struggles with spelling, so recently we added in some flash cards to boost vocabulary and spelling. Our child is in the fourth book of the Eragon series about dragons. And our child gets plenty of exercise and spends hours on end playing with his friends.
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m not claiming that our experience homeschooling is representative. There is no representative experience; the flexibility and adaptiveness are part of the appeal. Different children have different needs and different interests.
And let’s face it: Some homeschooled children struggle with academics or with finding friends. Moreover, some families choose to homeschool precisely because their child is autistic, dyslexic, or otherwise neurodiverse, and sometimes those issues manifest as trouble with reading, difficulty in some social situations, or the like. To a large degree, children face the same challenges whether they homeschool or attend “regular” school. Many parents find that homeschooling helps them create a better environment for their child to thrive.
“He must have been homeschooled.” I’ll take it!
Ari Armstrong writes regularly for Complete Colorado and is the author of books about Ayn Rand, Harry Potter, and classical liberalism. He can be reached at ari at ariarmstrong dot com.
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