Where do you begin when you decide to homeschool your child?

Where do you begin when you decide to do anything you’ve never done before?

Naturally, I began with the research. 

What were others in my position doing? What resources existed that I could take advantage of?

I soon learned that homeschooling was becoming relatively popular in America, with over 3 million children learning at home in 2024 – more than 6% of all school-age children – with numbers growing steadily each year. 

And there were a lot of resources available to support them, from complete curricula to live online classes, books to YouTube videos, podcasts to audio books. In fact, there were so many choices, it was overwhelming. So much curricula, so many blogs, podcasts, social media accounts and groups, each encouraging a different approach as the ideal form of education. 

A whole new world was opening to me. 

Admittedly, I’d really never thought very much about educational approaches, and so I wasn’t very well informed. But I knew I wasn’t looking to replicate the traditional school model at home, and so now it was time for a deep dive. 

As I read and listened and watched and learned, I found something interesting. These ‘alternative’ models, I soon understood, were not just different ways of delivering the same knowledge and information. There were entire philosophies behind them, each of them designed towards a particular outcome. And it wasn’t just the curriculum that varied so greatly, but the structure and environment; in fact, in some cases the entire setup reflected a completely different concept of what I had grown up with and always taken for granted as the basic standard of education. 

Questioning Our System

Suddenly I had so many more questions. Why did we do things in this particular way? How much of it was true to our actual educational goals as frum Jews versus simply a setup that evolved, to a large degree by default? How much of this default setup was in fact hindering our true goals, and possibly even sabotaging what we actually were supposed to be aiming for?

For example, when was it decided that sitting at a desk in a classroom from 9-4 (or longer) was a good idea? Did this have anything to do with the good of the children, or was it set up only as a day care option while parents went to work? And if the latter, what were the ramifications of that? And what might be a better setup?

Did it actually make any sense to teach the exact same things to all children divided only by age? It seemed to me that while it was acceptable to us, even obvious, that children develop differently as babies and toddlers, learning to walk and talk in vastly varying ways, suddenly they were expected to follow a precise timeline in gaining skills and knowledge, with any variation considered ‘advanced’ or ‘behind’. Was there any truth behind this? Did the average actually represent any sort of ideal?

And why did we do so much testing? Was it really necessary or helpful to measure our children’s learning so often? Was the pressure of a test actually a positive motivator or could it possibly be adding unnecessary stress to something that might otherwise be a more positive experience?

Another thing: why was there so little art and creativity in our schooling? It seemed to me that there was a significant focus on the arts in preschool, but that faded and all but disappeared as the years went on, except on occasion when needed to fill time otherwise unclaimed. Was it really an extra to work creatively, only if and when the “primary” goal of acquiring knowledge was met?

These weren’t really completely new questions to me, but suddenly I was seeing alternatives. There were other ways to be educated, not just at home but even in schools. And I knew this was true because it was being done, both in other countries around the world and right here in the USA. There were people who considered alternate setups, who did not just default to the easier route but took the time to consider how a particular method was helping them reach their goals for their children. 

The Next Step

Clearly, no philosophy is perfect, nor does any school offer any guarantees. But we certainly have only what to gain by being conscious of how our educational approach may be affecting our kids. 

I had a lot to think about, and a lot to learn. I wasn’t going to set up my kids’ education by default – not when I had all of the methods in the world open to me, with no school or work schedule to limit me. 

The question was now, what did I want it to be?

What, in fact, did the Torah expect from us in educating our children, and which was the most effective way to accomplish that?

If this intrigues you, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

With G-d’s help I’ll be back soon with more – more questions, some answers, and lots of food for thought.