We all sat in amazement at the 20 year old woman’s statement. There were 24 fresh faces in my career research and workforce readiness class that morning between the ages of 16 and 70, and I had just 8 days to get them pretested for the GED, help them learn the college campus and utilize its resources, explore their interests, personalities and learning styles, research careers, build a resume and help them prepare a class PowerPoint presentation—a monumental challenge for some who did not own a computer and had never, ever sent an email. But I only had a few hours to learn all their names without constantly referring to a seating chart.

As an “ice-breaker,” the students were to introduce themselves and share with the class an interesting fact about themselves that no one could guess just by looking at them. Of course the interesting facts would spark conversations, and Elly’s fact had us mesmerized. Sitting in the last chair in the last row, Elly (not her real name) was the last to share. “I’ve never sat in a classroom before,” She confessed meekly. We soon learned that she was raised on a homestead where she was supposed to be home schooled, but not much was done by her parents in that regard. So after doing her chores, she spent her free time reading and basically taught herself. When her test results came back, she scored at the 12th grade level in reading and language and at the 10^th grade level in math. In addition, she wrote a very impressive essay for someone who had never set foot in an English class.

Not being in a classroom and not having a teacher had not hindered this bright young woman from learning. In fact, Elly's story is not unique. Remember the tragic yet triumphant story of kidnapped victim Jaycee Dugard? She taught her own children that were born to her during her 18-year captivity even though she had only a fifth grade education. When they were found and returned to her rightful family, her girls scored highly on their aptitude tests--the oldest at the high school level--despite the fact they had never set foot in a classroom.

I mention these stories to encourage many of you who’ve decided to home school this year for the first time--either because of Covid, or because you wanted to have more control over your child’s education—just in case you find yourself struggling and frustrated with it. While yes, results may vary, the truth remains that you don’t need the formal structure of school that we are familiar with for your child to learn and make progress. As a matter of fact, in his book, Home School Burnout, the late Dr. Raymond Moore, Ed.D and his wife Dorothy Moore, MA, frowned upon parents recreating the formalities of school at home precisely because it leads to burnout. The couple cite many examples where parents even delayed the formal education of a child due to delays in cognitive development of the child. In one example, one child didn’t learn to read until the age of 11. His parents worked around this limitation with his schooling by assigning hands on projects in collaboration with his more literate siblings until he was ready for formal training in reading. Dr. Raymond surmised that all of a student’s formal education can acquired within three years once a student is developmentally ready.

That should be good news to you first timers who are stressed over your child falling behind. Relax! Stop frustrating yourself and your children and learn about them, their learning styles and interests this year. Try some stuff out. See what works before you lock yourselves into a formal curriculum. And if you began with a formal curriculum that's not working, throw it out and hit the reset button.

I recognize that some of the anxiety that you’re experiencing may be due to the reality that you will be returning your child to a formal public education once it is safe to do so, or that you’re still under the requirements of a public school though your child is learning remotely. In such cases don’t be afraid to seek help. My parents helped me to keep my girls on track when I had to go back to work part-time by making sure they did the work that I assigned them in my absence. A dear sister from church who was a retired biology teacher volunteered to guide them in their specimen dissections, and I took her up on it. For my 11^th grader, that help came in the form of taking advantage of dual enrollment at the college and enrolling her little sister in the same classes whenever possible because little sis would actually read the texts and brief big sis who found anything but science too boring to read. Help is out there, and it can take many forms; so be creative: a virtual learning cooperative or pod, or a rotation of parents helping out a small group in the same class (virtually of course). It doesn’t always have to cost. Of course, you can always call me. Wink, wink!

How is schooling going for your family so far?