Homeschooling Memoirs | Part 1

Dylan Shetler

The following is the first post in a series titled Homeschooling Memoirs, throughout which I intend to relate some of my experiences with homeschooling. Since I have been homeschooling for a number of years now, and given that the approach has recently become more common in our country, I consider myself obligated to share with others what insight my family and I have gleaned in the process.

Firstly, my education, hitherto, has not been acquired solely through homeschooling. During my kindergarten through fourth-grade years, I unsteadily alternated between home and public schooling. The curriculum which I often used at that time, which was – and still is – based almost completely online, is called K-12 (https://www.k12.com/#) This was, according to my mother (who is disabled owing to Multiple Sclerosis) a very parentally demanding curriculum to properly administer, specifically in terms of time and effort. She was pleased with some of its courses, but maintains that the bulk of it consisted of “busywork” (i.e, active work of little value, performed merely to occupy time, avoid boredom, or to look busy). Also adding that such courses, in order to promote “well-roundedness” in students, generally covered a broad array of subjects, effectively teaching “a little about a lot.”

After spending my entire fourth-grade year – and half of my fifth – at a local elementary school, my mother again offered to homeschool me, however, this time with a different curriculum. Partly out of resentment for my teacher, I readily accepted the offer, and not long after started “All-in-one-homeschool” {https://allinonehomeschool.com} With this curriculum, unlike the other, less was required of the parent. Although resources were scattered about the internet and the type of assignments frequently changed, it was still then preferred over K-12.

I will discuss some of the other curriculums that I have tried in future posts (including one assembled by Ron Paul!).

Dylan Shetler is a writer and Christian. You can follow him on Twitter @shetler_dylan

17 Comments

  1. Interesting! I’ll be looking out for the rest of these posts – you’re so well-rounded writing-wise that I’m intrigued as to your educational choices! (I shouldn’t have been so surprised that you mentioned a “ron paul” curriculum; its a small world, this universe of homeschooling!)

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thanks.

      Regarding my writing, I’m presently using a comparatively more rigorous approach. In short, many of the sentences which I devise are rewritten at least fifty times. My hope is that this ensures near maximum content quality.

      Also, as of roughly 2015 (?) I switched from RPC to “The Robinson Curriculum” : Robinson Self-Teaching Curriculum – Robinson Curriculum

      I’ll eventually be sharing about this self-teaching course of study as well.

      And yes, small world 🙂

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      1. Wow, that’s great! Sounds a bit tedious, but you’re right, that will definitely help you to write better and clearer sentences. Oh, my Dad is a big fan of the Robinson family … I’ll have to check out their curriculum.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Thank you! It’s very thought provoking … even if I don’t actually use the curriculum, many of Dr. Robinson’s expectations and ideas would be valuable to implement.

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Considering I am the unfortunate byproduct of a K-12 public education, I vigorously push for alternatives!

        People talk about “Ending the Fed”, which in my opinion is necessary. However, what about abolishing public schools? We could more efficiently provide private education for low-income students through voluntary charity. While simultaneously producing better results.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Firstly, I would say that you are far from the “unfortunate byproduct” of a public education!

    Voluntary charity seems like it would be an effective alternative. Others have proposed expanding school choice – or, generally speaking, what I understand as the broadening of parents educational options.

    But, overall, results should be the priority. If I’m not mistaken, Dr. Sowell – as usual, not without compelling reasons – made the same point in his latest book about charter schools. Basically, government has a monopoly on education. Which means that irrespective of the quality of what is being provided (evidenced by results??) that such institutions will nonetheless prevail because they are not subject to competition.

    Anyway, I’ve definitely still have more to relate and suggest in upcoming posts.

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