Should homeschoolers have credentials?

Now finishing my 8th year of homeschooling and being close to completing my Elementary Education Certification I am still conflicted as ever regarding this question. It's one that I have wrestled with since first hearing about homeschooling and thinking "those people" were crazy to think they were capable of teaching a child past kindergarten. When I was more or less forced into homeschooling my child, I vehemently defended my right to educate my own and devoured all the homeschooling books and articles I could while I fretted about my abilities. I don't ever want to judge people, but I found that I couldn't help looking at other homeschooled children and comparing them to mine. I couldn't resist engaging certified teachers into conversations on education so that I could assure myself of their knowledge base compared to my own.

How awful is that?!?

But it's the truth. I can't deny it. So, when those teen years were looming and upper level coursework was looming at home I knew I had to bridge the distance and get my teaching certificate. Constantly second-guessing if I was ruining my child's future was taking its toll on me and I needed to put that problem to rest. So here I am in the middle of two worlds of education. It's been a wonderful experience to be back in school and I am learning so much about teaching and learning that I can't reccommend it highly enough to other fellow homeschoolers. On the other hand, the only reason I am getting the experience of a lifetime is because of all of the hands-on training I have gone through these past 8 years.

Teachers do not have a magic bullet for ensuring a student will succeed -- they do often have more content knowledge and a "bag of tricks and strategies" as it's called, to teach a concept multiple ways. Many homeschooling parents rely on their chosen curriculum or philosophy to provide THE way to learn a concept. Fortunately, or unfortunately as in this case, children are not robots and may need multiple strategies to consistently get through their subjects and certified teachers are worth their weight in gold when a child has trouble reading or can't grasp the concept of finding the slope of a line. The downfall of classroom learning is of course class size, pressures from standardized testing, pacing schedules, interruptions and distractions, and the limitation that a teacher only knows his/her students for one year.

A homeschooling parent can bring a one-on-one education that is child-centered, enriched with field trips, experiments, and community integration. A child can learn at their own pace and are not confined to an academic calendar. Learning can be taken on the road and be done at any time of day. A child with particular talents can use the flexibility to access advanced lessons or training. Most of all a parent can be more loving and patient, and comes prepared to ensure their child's needs are met. What homeschooling parent doesn't want the absolute best for their children? Contrary to popular belief, socialization is NOT a concern in the homeschooling community. Making sure that your high school aged child is accepted to college or will be accepted in their chosen career field is the end goal to ensure our children are successful adults that I hear most often.

There are ups and downs to both sides of the education coin and much to be learned by one side of the other. While I still feel that certification should NOT be required of homeschooling parents ever, I think there is still great value to be gleaned from the teaching profession. My dream is to see the day when homeschooling parents have access in their communities to workshops and "in-service" days from education professionals. This then begins my blog on giving back to the homeschooling parents that wrestle every day, as I did, to teach their children for academic success.