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I am a homeschool dad. One of our kids has always been homeschooled, the other attended school very briefly to 6 years old. Since then they have been homeschooled and it’s been great. As a dad, I have never had any issues at all with them being homeschooled, in fact, quite the opposite. They have enjoyed their childhoods, we’ve had more family time, and most importantly for us, we’ve had our freedom. They have now passed a whole heap of exams with great grades. So don’t try to tell me homeschooling doesn’t work or is bad for kids!
If you just read my blog post titled “How to work less, travel more as a Chef” you’ll know our story. If not, I’ll repeat it below, briefly.
Why We Homeschooled Our Kids
We started homeschooling because we had issues with the local school and there were no alternative schools nearby.
We really didn’t have much choice back then.
We continued homeschooling our kids because it was great. It worked for our kids and our family.
The homeschooling gave us the freedom to travel and I was proud to be a homeschool dad, somebody who thinks differently and tries new things.
I never wanted to do things the same way as everyone else.
Homeschooling and Working Internationally
Because of the homeschooling I’ve been able to work all over the world, mostly part-time or as a casual.
For several years I didn’t work at all. My wife took over as chief breadwinner through her blogs.
She found the time to work as a blogger, homeschool, and travel the globe. My job was organiser, I took care of accounting, routes, passports and visas.
Between us we got it all done.
I never wanted to spend my entire life working for somebody else and through homeschooling, entrepreneur skills, and becoming digital nomads, we enjoyed a much better work-life balance than through working full-time for an employer.
You’ll have to check the legality and regulations around homeschooling wherever you live.
When we lived in Australia, years ago, the kids had to be registered and my wife had to be approved to homeschool.
She had to write learning plans and submit reports.
Moving to the UK made homeschooling much easier and better. There were no such requirements for British kids.
As we traveled as tourists, local homeschooling regulations in say Thailand, Dubai, Sri Lanka, didn’t apply to us as holidaymakers.
We were just on a very long holiday and the UK was our base.
My Wife is In Charge of Homeschooling
My wife was a full-time mum, which was important to us, we had already made that happen.
She is extremely academic and quit a career where she was earning more than me to be with the kids many years ago.
I had zero concerns about her capability in being in charge of the kids’ education.
She has taken quite a lot of abuse about homeschooling over the years. I never have.
People are generally cowards when it comes to confronting big grumpy-looking chefs about their opinions on homeschooling.
A lot of homeschooling women get it all the time.
Homeschooling Outcomes
Mostly these people have no idea what homeschooling is, how it works, outcomes, and so on.
Homeschooling outcomes are great. Homeschooled kids do better in tests, go to university and get great jobs.
Some don’t of course, the same as some kids come out of school illiterate social misfits.
My elder homeschooled child now has much better exam passes than I got. I went to school.
He also has a part-time job (his choice) and volunteers in conservation.
He’s very happy and has had an amazing childhood that most would be envious of.
We have no regrets at all about homeschooling our kids.
Why Homeschooling Has Been Better
- My kids got to see their dad on his days off. Which for a chef, never fall on the weekends or holidays.
- I was able to do all the things dads want to do with their kids, from scuba diving and skiing, to trekking to Everest Base Camp.
- There were no strict time tables or early morning starts to stress everyone out. Unless we had a plane to catch.
- I knew who my kids were mixing with and where they were at all times.
- They got to meet, mix, and mingle with far more people (adults in particular) than they ever would in school.
- The kids always had their most important care-givers and sources of love and support, their parents, close at hand.
- They went to 50 countries before they were 16 and learned from them. They are worldly-wise and not indoctrinated by a biased media or people who don’t know what foreign countries are really like.
- My kids love “foreign” cuisines and can cook them. We always take cooking classes with them.
- I’m a chef, but my wife cooks at home. I know the kids get great healthy food, not school junk.
- The boys enjoy sports such as skiing, hiking, kayaking, climbing, and scuba diving. They have no interest in team sports and weren’t forced to take part in sports they didn’t like. This puts so many kids off sports.
- The kids and my wife were happy. Happy wife, happy life.
- I was happy.
- The kids got loads of time to read and follow their interests.
- My elder child has now passed his exams, despite not being in full-time education. He did far better than I did.
- We have enjoyed our lives and our freedom.
A Homeschool Dad Blog
I felt I needed to add this brief post on homeschooling, from a homeschool dad’s perspective because I mention this on the site often, yet I’ve never explained it. So here you go, a short homeschool dad blog. If you’d like to know more about homeschooling, feel free to ask in the comments.
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