I have a lot of fears about homeschooling my children but these two homeschooling quotes help calm my fears and reassure me they will turn out just fine.
Best Quote #1
A child can learn everything he needs to for college in just 2-3 years.
Best Quote #2
Kids will learn all they need to for their career.
Homeschooling Fears
Homeschooling is really scary. Every mom has had thoughts like:
What if I mess my kids up?
What if I don’t teach them everything they need to know for college?
What if there are gaps in their education?
What about the year we had a family emergency/had a baby/built a house/moved/got divorced and hardly did any school?
What if my child is supposed to be a math teacher and I hate math or we hardly do any?
What if my child is supposed to be a surgeon? He probably won’t get there with me as his teacher.
What if my child is supposed to be a musician but we can’t afford music lessons?
I’ve had all these thoughts and more as I’m sure you have too. I can answer them individually in a different post. But for now, use the two best homeschooling quotes to calm your fears. Ask yourself your question, then read the quotes again and see if they answer your question. Do you feel better?
Explanation of Quote #1
“A child can learn everything he needs to for college in just 2-3 years.”
When I first heard this quote, I was astonished. Everything? Yes everything! This means if your child wants to go to college he can start school at age 15. He can learn to read, learn grammar and writing, learn all of the elementary and advanced math concepts, do history, science, and foreign language all by the time he turns 18. And he’ll be ready for college!
This quote provides great relief to me when I think of the years we didn’t get as much done as we wanted to. Or when my younger kids just want to play all day. But when you think about it, most elementary grades do very little history and what they do do is repeated year after year: Columbus, Pilgrims, etc. If you waited and just took history once, you could learn it all over the course of 2-3 years. You would also learn it way better, remember it, have the timeline in order in your head. It’s not until children are older that dates and events are organized and make sense to them anyway.
Explanation of Quote #2
“Kids will learn all they need to for their career.”
When I first heard this quote I felt an immediate sense of relief! Like a huge sense of relief. I knew this quote was for me. I was going through a divorce and contemplating moving the children across the country to live in a rural area. I didn’t know where yet, but my dream was to live on lots of acres in a small town. Currently I was living in a county with over 1 million people. We had awesome libraries, famous theaters and opera houses, fantastic museums/zoo/aquarium, gifted music teachers, access to therapists, good sports programs and facilities, and access to tutors on any subject/interest one wanted. How could I take my children away from all of this? What if they’re supposed to be professional musicians or actors and there’s nothing like that in our new town? What would living in the country do for their career and future? Probably nothing.
I’ve also worried about us being poor their whole lives. We’ve never been able to afford sports, AP classes, expensive hobbies, community college classes, or very many music lessons. So what if one of my children were supposed to become an Olympic swimmer or elite swim coach when they’re older? We’ve never had any swim lessons and can’t even afford to go to a pool.
This quote has helped me feel so much better knowing my kids’ careers won’t suffer because of our circumstances. I do believe that if something like swimming is what God wanted for their lives, they would feel the desire within. They would beg for swim lessons and the doors would open for them to be able to do it. Someone would notice their natural skill and more doors would open for them to be on competitive teams or whatever they’re supposed to do.
Same thing if they want to be an airline pilot but they’ve never flown on an airplane before, we don’t have any flight schools nearby or have any connections. It’s ok. I believe they’ll still be able to pursue their dreams and will become who they’re supposed to become. There’s also a quote that God doesn’t give us dreams and desires of our heart if we’re not supposed to do them. So listen to your children and follow their interests, but rest assured they’ll learn all they need to at your homeschool that will enable them to have the career and future they’re supposed to.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is don’t worry. If your child doesn’t do much formal schooling until high school, reads late, has terrible grammar, and has never finished his science textbook, he is going to be just fine. He only needs 2-3 years to learn those things and get ready for college.
If your child is destined to be a lawyer, doctor, teacher, pilot, nurse, truck driver, writer, dancer, artist, whatever, he will become whatever he’s supposed to become. Even if it’s a gardener and he’s lived his whole life on the 8th floor of an apartment building. If he has the desire within he’ll learn what he needs to at top speed when the time is right, and be an amazing gardener. So put your mind at ease. You homeschooling isn’t going to “ruin” your child or their future career. More likely it’ll accelerate it because he has all day to explore and pursuit his interests and will be learning what he wants instead of what the teacher says he has to learn. But that’s a topic for a different post.
Go enjoy homeschooling knowing you’re doing a great job!