Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Michael Farris:
Relax. Most people don’t need to be able to teach physics or calculus to their 6- or 7-year-olds. In fact, very few people study these courses in public high schools or colleges. So don’t sweat it.

First, consider the kind of classes that you could teach if you simply had a bit of a refresher. That’s the way I was when I was teaching algebra to my two oldest daughters. I nearly panicked when on the first day of school I opened the algebra book in the middle and saw quadratic equations. I had no memory of how to do quadratic equations. But I was more than capable of teaching the first several lessons and began to remember the subject as I went through it with my daughters. By the time we got to quadratic equations, I had relearned what I needed to know in order to correctly impart the material in their lessons each morning.

There’s a second kind of class, one that the parent has never learned. For this type of class, which is almost exclusively a high school phenomenon, enrollment at a friendly private school for a single class, at a junior college, or hiring a private tutor have been the standard responses for most families. One final alternative is shared instruction among homeschoolers. In a local support group, you’ll often find at least one parent who can teach a foreign language, computers, and yes, even physics and calculus.

Don’t sweat it. Your kids can be taught high school at home.

I’m Michael Farris.