Step two in Homeschooling 101: Being one with your husband.
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Generally speaking, most of us mommies do the teaching in our homes. We pick the curriculum, we pick the method by which we teach, we decide which activities we will be involved in, and we do all the instructing.
Do you see a problem with this scenario? Where is father in all of this? Shouldn’t he have a say in the education of his children?
The second piece of advice I try to give new homeschooling families… include pop in your homeschooling. While dad might need to work all day, not being available to do actual instructing, there are many ways in which he can still be an active part of your children’s education:
- He can pray for his family.
- He can offer advice on which curriculum should be chosen.
- He can discuss what the children learned at the end of each day.
- He can be a sounding board for ideas.
- If available, he can teach classes.
When we first began homeschooling, my husband was a great sounding board for ideas. Everything that came to my attention we discussed together. How did he think we should homeschool; do we use a classical method, an unschooling approach, or should we be eclectic? What should be the focus of our learning? He was instrumental in helping us to narrow down the goals of our family’s learning.
At the beginning of each year, I make a point of discussing everything with my husband. We talk about any new changes, new directions, new goals, and new ideas we’d like to try out. During these discussions, he makes a point of letting me know how he’d like to be involved in our children’s learning. This year, he is participating in PE and teaching logic on weekends.
Sometimes we talk about things as they come up, others at the end of the night. The most fun way to have our conversations? A date night! Make a special coffee date and together plan out the coming year for your family.
Knowing my husband is behind what we do 100%, gives me great peace of mind. I am not in this alone, I am not doing this on my own strength. We are in this together for the long haul, raising and training our children.
If you don’t already, consider making your husband an active part of your homeschooling. No matter how “small” the contribution, it will be well worth the effort.
Veteran Mommies: How do you encourage your husband to participate in the homeschooling of your children?
“AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh.” – Mark 10:8
A Homeschool Mom 
Well written. Homeschooling is a family event even if the husband is not available to teach. His involvement may only be as a sounding board or even for PE, but this type of support is not only comforting but also provides the peace of mind you mention. You are not alone.
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My husband works all day and we are normally done when he gets home but he does ask the kids about school that day, I always keep him in the loop on lessons and since most of our Field Trips are on Fridays, he will take off work to go
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How wonderful that he is able to do that. I’m sure you all enjoy having him along. I know we do, when my husband can join in. 🙂
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In our homeschool, Mr. Garner is part of our morning time, right after breakfast which includes Bible, Hymn, Scripture Memorization, Catechism and Latin. Yep – Dad is learning Latin with us! At lunch or dinner, or both, he hears History recitation, and discusses. He is a connoisseur of board games, so he also plans Game Night, choosing a game from his extensive collection that goes along with our studies. My husband is self-employed, and business is slow. We might not always be able to do this, but for right now it blesses all of us.
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What an awesome blessing! My husband is self-employed, so that makes him more available too. We enjoy it, but it does keep things very tight.
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Our kids were required to memorize Scripture and a great deal of poetry – such as “The Village Blacksmith.” They all loved to recite for their dad, and he used to clap in appreciation at their theatrical antics!
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That sounds like lots of fun! How wonderful!
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We save lab experiments for the weekend to do with my husband. He likes to be involved and if we do not get to art during the week he likes to do that too. He hands over all of the curriculum research to me and I go to him when I am not sure what to choose or am confused. He is my support and the kids know he back me up. He also tried to schedule to be off whenever we have fieldtrips so he can go with us.
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He sure is making a great effort! What a good dad! 🙂
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My husband actually prefers that I do the bulk of the decision making on curriculum. I do ask him when I need help or advice, and it’s great to have a “go-to” person for our kids’ education. I am BLESSED that my husband is able to teach or supervise my kids one day a week. It’s a great change for everyone, and gives me a break. He’s amazing.
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My family seems to differ on this point. I try to include my partner, but he’s not terribly interested in being involved. He likes the co-op because the kids seem so happy about it, but he isn’t much interested in being a part of their normal, daily education. Of course, I was already unschooling when I met him, so he seemed to think changing my mind would be impossible.
Still, he has had his subtle influence. He likes that the kids are taking a more traditional approach this year. He’s been back and forth between unschooling and traditional education for the entire time we’ve been together. It’s really hard for him as he’s not here to see it every day. It’s kind of lead him down the road of being more hands-off.
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My husband is the Principal! We have a home-based business as well as a home-based private school. We try not to interrupt him often, but when he is needed, I can send my daughter to “the office”–LOL. He has worked out the grading structure with our student and he is our math expert. He doesn’t teach math but he helps with knotty problems from algebra 1 and up.
Another thing that Dad’s can do is pass on practical skills. If the dad is handy, he can teach skills that involve working with tools: maintaining and building things. My husband is the handy one in our household, so he teaches these areas by having her help him while he is working around the house and garage evenings and weekends. He also was the one to teach her to swim, golf, bicycle, etc.
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What a handy guy to have around! A true blessing, I’m sure. 🙂
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Great thoughts here. 🙂 We’ve been talking about this lately, as to how my husband can be more involved in schooling. A timely reminder for us to discuss this again. Thanks.
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You are most welcome.
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Funny that I read this after I guest post! I’m encouraged to see how many moms already have committed husbands that are partners in homeschooling as well as in the home. I hope the story continues to get out that dads are actively leading the charge in giving our children all they need to be spiritually and academically solid adults.
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My prayer is that more fathers step up and join in the adventure. Too often this becomes a ‘mom thing’ instead of being a family adventure. It has been encouraging to see this might be changing.
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You know it is funny that you say that about hubbys…mine when he comes home he always wants to know what the kids learned that day. He sits down with each and talks with them. Sometimes he will even help them further their knowledge (he has a Statistics degree). With our son and daughter, he helps with science and math. He also shows them both how to work with their hands as much as their minds 🙂 I think if he could he’d rather do the teaching sometimes….lol!!
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It sure sounds like he enjoys taking an active part in their learning. That is beautiful; I wish more dads were like this! Good job!
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yeah he does…I’ve been lucky 🙂 He loves to show and teach them what he knows.
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