Homeschooling parents often worry about missing something in their children’s education.
Here is a truth that should speak into that concern: It’s never too late to learn something. While it might be too early to learn something – a child might not be developmentally ready – there is no “magical time” to learn things – there is no God-ordained schedule regarding when your child should learn to read, to write, to do arithmetic, or to do calculus, for that matter.
Many years ago, I was sharing with a homeschooling friend that my daughter was having trouble with algebra.
“Oh,” she replied, “I let Sophia drop that. She wants to get into acting, she doesn’t need algebra. And if she ever changes career directions and needs algebra, she can learn it then. She would be more mature, and she would be motivated.”
That was a concept that I had never considered. Once your child can read, and understand basic arithmetic, they can learn anything.
Sometimes we see what our homeschooling friends are teaching their children, and we think we should be doing the same thing. Maybe we should, but maybe not. Your children have a whole lifetime ahead of them, and are learning a lot every day, whether through formal instruction, or simply from life.
What they don’t learn this year, they can learn next year, or maybe in three or four years. Maybe they won’t ever need to learn that particular subject or skill.
I recently met a very successful business man who had been homeschooled. He had never completed a math course in high school. (He had taken some math courses, but had not completed them.) This man became a successful accountant, and eventually started his own business.
I suppose at some point in university he was motivated to learn math.
Do be prayerful each year about what your child should be learning that year, but don’t panic. They have a whole lifetime ahead of them!
