Home School Dads

The first week of the flu, I was too sick to do much more than blow my nose. The second week, I was coherent enough to read, but not enough to read anything that required much concentration. Lose 200 Lbs This Weekend: It's Time to Declutter Your Life seemed to fit the bill. The problem was that I would get inspired to clean something, go start working on it, and then have to sit down and rest. When I sat down, I'd pick up the book, and the cycle would repeat. Not usually a bad thing, as I really to have a lot of clutter that needs sorted through, but not quite as restful as I needed.

As usual, I ended up at the computer. After checking my email, the weather forecast, and catching up on my blogs, I still wanted something to read. I decided to search "homeschool dad". Most home school web sites, books, and blogs assume that Mom is doing the teaching. Dad's involvement generally consists of earning enough money so Mom can stay home and teach. A highly involved, dedicated Dad might offer his wife occasional encouragement and lay down the law when the kids get out of line, but that's it. Some Moms say they'd rather Dad left home schooling, and especially curriculum planning, to them. It just hasn't worked out that way for us.

Not that I can't learn from home school Moms, I have, but I wondered what I could learn from more-involved Dads. I found a few online articles, but nothing very helpful. What I did find helpful were a number of blogs by home school Dads. Some were in the traditional supporting role, but the fact that they defined themselves as home school Dads, rather than defining home schooling as their wives' project, made them more interesting. Others took an active role in teaching and curriculum planning, even if Mom did the majority of the teaching and Dad was the wage earner. I even found a few blogs by Dads who were the primary teachers, while their wives were the wage earners. What I found most interesting was how many Dads in each of these situations took an active interest in what and how their children were learning, whether they were the primary teachers or not. That, and the fact that each blog found its own way of making me think.

So I ended up adding even more blogs to Google Reader. Just what I need. I'll probably be quoting from some of them at various times, but so far this one is far and away my favorite. So much so that I stayed up way too late last night reading the archives. So much for reading and resting.