Maybe It’s Time to Switch to Homeschooling with Sonlight

Sticking with the same-old-same-old as a parent is pretty easy. It requires no research and no real decision-making. Just rinse and repeat. Read the same bedtime storybook. Grab the same bag of chicken nuggets for dinner.

Because of inertia, we have an inborn tendency to stay in a rut and fall back on what’s familiar when it comes to the choices we make for our kids.

Inertia: a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged.

And thank goodness for the contentment that comes when you know your curriculum choice is correct and school is working well. It’s easy to simply keep going! And it’s the right thing to do in that case! 

But what if you feel a tinge of discontent or unease about school? This isn’t the grass-is-always-greener sense of envy or the shiny-object syndrome that turns your head when you see something fresh. Here we’re talking about a realization that something is seriously wrong with your child’s education. 

SIGNS SOMETHING IS BIG-TIME WRONG

• Your child dreads school. There are consistent (not occasional) emotional outbursts and meltdowns.
• Your child is not able to work at his/her own pace and it’s causing distress (boredom if too slow or frustration if too fast).
• Your parental intuition is waving a big red flag that your child is being shortchanged somehow.
• You’re feeling a heavy sense of guilt that you’re failing your child.

When you sense these warning signs and want more for your child academically, it’s time to consider a switch.

For Any Parent

You’ll have to resist the pull of inertia as you consider this educational switch. Making big changes can be difficult.

There’s the effort involved in researching. Then there’s the analysis paralysis that can set in as you weigh your options. For some choices, a switch can mean losing part of your identity. Maybe you’ll no longer be a public school parent. Or you’ll lose your title as a [insert popular curriculum] parent. 

But don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself and do the hard work required to provide your child the ideal learning environment. Just like you tell your kids, you, too, can do hard things!

For the Parent with Kids in Public School

To take your children out of public school and bear the responsibility of teaching them at home yourself is a major life decision. Here are a few encouraging facts:

• You can always put your kids back in school! If you try homeschooling and it’s a disaster, the school will always take you back. You can choose to homeschool just for one year instead of making a commitment for your child’s entire educational career. 
• Even if homeschooling is a disaster (it won’t be, but let’s go with this line of thinking), one year is not going to ruin your child forever. 
• The younger your child is, the lower the stakes are in terms of having a bad homeschool year. While a high school sophomore could actually get behind on earning credits for graduation, a preschooler or kindergartener is not missing out on anything by doing school at home. 
• A home environment with an engaged parent is always a more customized and tailor-made educational experience than putting that child into a classroom setting with tens of other students. This is why special needs (including gifted) children excel as homeschoolers. 
• Your devotion to your child’s success will always outweigh a teacher’s credentials and experience. You truly can homeschool well even without a teaching degree … because of your motivation to do right by your child. That parental passion is something even the most dedicated teacher cannot replicate.

For the Parent Who Is Already Homeschooling

If you’re already homeschooling, making a curriculum switch is relatively easier than making the leap from public school to learning at home. So congrats! The hardest part is out of the way. You’re already a homeschooler!

Here’s how to erase the risks of switching curriculum (even if mid-year).

• Opt for a curriculum that provides samples so you can clearly see what you’re getting.
• Talk to Advisors to make sure you’re choosing the best materials for your specific children.
• Ask about a money-back guarantee that gives you an escape hatch.
• Find out if there’s a payment plan that makes the financial investment easier to budget for.
• Connect with other users to find out, from another parent’s perspective, how it could work for you.

Go Deeper with These Bonus Articles

• 10 Reasons We Still Stick with Sonlight After 10 Years 
• How to Know When It’s Time to Switch Homeschool Curriculum 
• Being a Homeschool Curriculum Junkie—How & Why to Just Say No 
• How I Learned to Be Content with My Homeschool Curriculum 
• The Surprising Simple Joys that Pandemic Homeschoolers Discovered