Home Schooling: Could Today’s Necessity Become Tomorrow’s Career Path?

With schools closing all around the world, more and more parents are realizing the potential benefits of homeschooling their kids. When they learn from home, kids get the one-on-one attention that they need but rarely afforded in today’s often over-packed and under-staffed classrooms. Plus, you get to build a curriculum that’s tailored to your children’s unique learning needs. And who knows those better than you, their parents?

But could today’s pandemic necessity become tomorrow’s potential career path for an ambitious mom or dad looking for a new challenge? When the workers of the world emerge from their homes and life returns to normal, could your experience homeschooling your children be a catalyst for a rewarding career as a teacher? Here we’ll look at how the skills you gain from homeschooling could set you up for a career in education.

Online Learning

The best teachers are also great students. When homeschooling your kids, you’ll more than likely carry out a significant amount of online research to supplement your own knowledge and prepare for questions your little ones may have. 

This skill is important for all teachers. Whether they’re rounding out their subject knowledge, furthering their training with an online masters degree or liaising with other teachers online and sharing resources, online learning is a teacher’s bread and butter. Moreover, it’s a skill that, once learned, benefits all teachers greatly.

Classroom Experience

While you may not know what it’s like to deal with a class of over 20 children, homeschooling does present vital classroom experience. You gain communication skills that allow your kids to see you in a different light, as their teacher rather than their parent.

You learn the tells which show that your kids are off-task or growing frustrated with their exercises. Additionally, responding to their questions and helping them to find answers for themselves becomes easier. This is all vital classroom management experience that gets teachers through their busy (and often stressful) days. 

Behavior Management 

Nobody knows your kids better than you. When they misbehave, when they get lazy or when they lose focus, you know how to gently nudge them back on track. But in these trying and stressful times, kids who are used to living active lives can get very frustrated when their normal activities are canceled or changed.

You may need to investigate new behavior management techniques to keep them focused and on task. And this will also be an extremely valuable experience should you choose to go into teaching.

Planning and Adapting Curriculum

Great teachers are able to tweak their curriculum and resources to adapt to the needs and aptitudes of their students. As a homeschooling parent, you’ll likely be getting resources from your kids’ teachers and putting your own spin on things. This is essential in tailoring learning to students’ needs and is the hallmark of an exceptional teacher. 

So carry on homeschooling with pride. Know that what you’re doing is important to you, your children, and society. You might just find that you’re creating opportunities to start a career you can truly fall in love with.