I’m No Expert!
One of the things I’ve heard repeated most often about homeschooling is that you don’t have to be a professional teacher to do it, and that’s absolutely true! Furthermore, you don’t have to be a mathematician, a linguist, a biologist, or a musician either. From animation classes to botany lectures, it’s all possible with the aid of a great curriculum, online courses, video lectures, and my absolute favorite, tutors. There is no need to limit the scope of what your kids can study, just because you’re no expert.
In the traditional sense, tutors tend to be seen as persons brought along to supplement the instruction of students who need ‘extra’ help, but I’ve found that they are especially great when I need ‘extra’ help!
There are two main scenarios that prompt me to hire an expert to teach a class for me. The first is when the subject matter is tied to some practical application that I am not able to demonstrate for my kids, such as applied music. I don’t play any instruments, so when my boys began to show interest in piano it wasn’t long before I found them a private tutor. The same is true of swimming. When it comes to swimming I’m not able to do much else than wade in the shallow end of a kiddie pool, but my boys think they’re fish, so what was I to do? You got it; along comes a tutor!
The second situation is when my children exhibit special abilities that I want to see them harness. Children begin to reveal to us, from a very young age in some instances, what their unique gifts and abilities are. Homeschooling allows parents to really assist children in pursuing those gifts immediately and deliberately as opposed to when they are finally in college. My sons are especially talented in visual arts, and so we work with a local artists and an art teacher to help them with painting, animation and sketching. I want them to know that we recognize and take their gifts seriously, and so via tutors we’ve begun connecting them to people who are gifted in similar areas as they are.
Regardless of which of these two scenarios I’m in, I always enjoy working with special tutors because as an added bonus it brings variety to the learning environment. While my husband and I are able to comfortably teach the majority of their lessons, it provides a much needed change of pace when we bring in expert teachers to do special subjects or projects. Every teacher brings a unique flare and style to the learning experience. I know the boys enjoy lessons with me and their dad, but they also look forward to visits from their art teacher, and trips to their music, swimming and tennis instructors.
Let’s be honest folks, the kids already know that mom and dad do not know everything! We’re poised to craft the best possible learning experiences for our children, so whether you employ a private tutor for science, incorporate free online lectures on film making, or pay to be enrolled in a real-time online journalism class, it will be a worthwhile investment.
Latasha Strachan As a writer, teacher, and speaker, Latasha is driven by her desire to see women connect, inspire, and empower each other in God’s Spirit of love and unity. Her prayer is that women will become passionate about living free and honest lives through God’s power, mercy and grace. She and her husband Ian live in sunny Nassau, Bahamas and have shared just over a decade riding the phenomenal roller-coaster called ‘marriage’. They are on a wild yet fulfilling journey as they parent and homeschool three exceptionally energetic boys! You can visit her blog: www.latashastrachan.com.
