Issues in Consulting With Families who are Homeschooling, Part 1

[author][author_info]Our blog this week features part one of an interview conducted with two highly experienced education consultants, Nancy Elwood and Jean K. Nancy is the co-founder of PACE, and is the executive director of SHARE, where she leads a staff of education consultants serving throughout Europe and Eurasia. Jean is an experienced homeschooler, SHARE staff member, and has consulted with families serving overseas globally.[/author_info][/author]

When you listen to a mother who has come to you for advice regarding homeschooling, what are the first things you try to get a handle on?

Nancy: There are many things that I am listening for in order to begin to get a handle on the issue we are there to discuss.  First, where is the family located, what is life like, is Dad involved in the process, how many other children are there, how confident does Mom appear to be in the whole educational process, and then what is the particular concern?  If it is an issue with one child, how much has been done to address the issue already?  If it has to do with curricula, how much teaching has this mom done?  What curriculum is being used now and what are the challenges of using it?  From there, we would proceed to address specific needs for each child and try to match curricula to both the child’s learning style and needs and the mom’s teaching style.

Jean: I try to fact-find first.  I listen for family information like relationships, dynamics, number and age span of children, country of service, unique issues like exceptionalities, and educational background.  Sometimes this information is offered right up front, and other times I ask a few questions to get her started.

Next I try to listen for stress level.  While some parents are not always calm, they have a certain amount of confidence.  Some parents have noticed something in their child/ren that has them alarmed. I try to find out where on the continuum of stress this mom seems to land.

Do you find that most families who are homeschooling on the field are homeschooling out of conviction or because this is the only viable option?

Nancy: My experience is that very few families come to the field as “die-hard” homeschoolers.  They may believe that homeschooling is the best option for their family for now but they tend to re-evaluate from year to year to see if their goals are being met.  Living cross-culturally has so many challenges that flexibility is a major requirement and that applies to schooling as well.

Jean: More and more are homeschooling because of conviction.  However, a good many who are in creative-access countries (or places where the local schools are unacceptable for any reason) are homeschooling because it is the only viable option.

What kinds of expectations do homeschooling families in the field often have?  Too high?  Too low?  Realistic?

Nancy: Most parents coming to the field are well-educated and very motivated.  They tend to have very high expectations for their children as they do for themselves.  Most often, I would say that they err on the side of too high expectations.   For a few families, life gets overwhelming and they let schooling slide but that’s a rare case.  Most families are very well organized and hit the mark either realistically or perhaps a bit high.

Jean: This is a mixed bag, but for the most part it seems as though their expectations of themselves as the teacher and the education that is “necessary” are too high.  Some are doing 2 or even 3 grammar programs because they are nervous that they are not doing enough. Grammar is only one example, but I have met families who are doubling up on each of the academic disciplines in fear that their children will not succeed later in life.  Mostly, I find that parents are very anxious to make sure that they give their kids the best start possible.

How would you answer these questions?

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