What Happens When a Homeschool Mom Says You’re Wrong

Note: at the end of this story there’s a video you won’t want to miss.

When Homeschool Mom Says You're Wrong

Has anybody ever looked you in the eye, and with a straight face, told you that you were dead wrong and you needed to change your thinking?

I recently had that experience. And it led to an inspiring breakthrough about homeschooling. But before I tell you about it, I need to give you the back story so it all makes sense. I wasn’t homeschooled. I am a product of the conveyor-belt style of education. Basically, I spent 21,000 hours of my life shackled to desks in classrooms that had all the charm of a Soviet prison cell.

I’m not complaining. My parents worked hard to send me to school and I’m grateful for the sacrifices they made to give me what seemed to be the best education they could afford. But from all the years of being told what to think and how to think, my perspective on education, especially home education, was inherently skewed.

Wrong, oh so wrong

So here comes the part where you’re probably going to think I’m an idiot. Fair enough, after all, I’m the antagonist in this story. The protagonist is Kelly Negvesky, homeschool mom of three, dual credit and curriculum specialist, and the head of Collegiate Consulting for CollegePrep.

Kelly and I were discussing some big ideas about homeschooling high school students. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, I was essentially making the argument that homeschoolers should follow the same academic path as ‘mainstream’ high school students.

That was the moment Kelly told me I was wrong, that I was still stuck on the conveyor-belt, and that if I ever wanted to truly serve the homeschool community I had to change my thinking.

The inspiring breakthrough

Kelly’s point: people home educate because the conveyor-belt is broken, not because they want to create a different version of the same. That homeschooling is about parents and children owning their education, and engineering a personalized approach to learning that’s specific to each child’s God-given talents and abilities.

And that homeschooling is about being empowered to design an electrifying environment to create learning opportunities that extend beyond textbooks, like starting a business, learning how to write computer code, serving the community, or developing a relationship with a life mentor.

Lesson learned.

So, with Kelly’s passion for home education and forward-thinking approach to learning, I’m thrilled she’s leading our CollegePrep Collegiate Consultant team and will continue working one-on-one with homeschool parents.

Here's an inspiring video with Kelly, the passionate homeschool mom and education visionary.

David I'm passionate about world travel, cooking, the book of Genesis, and the Montréal Canadiens, and I'm happily married to my awesome wife, Khristen. If you have a story to share about life or learning, click here to send me an email, I'm always on the hunt for a great story.

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