Home Education and Tutorials

By Ginger McCreery     

We come to home education in many different ways and from traveling on many different roads. Some of us are brand new to this unique way of educating our children. Some of us heard about home schooling and knew that was right for our families and started with our children from the very beginning. We wrestled with all those hard questions and decided that if the Lord had called us to do this, then He would give us the wisdom and ability to get the job done. We agonized over all those hard questions: Will our child be normal? Will our child be able to go to college? Will a college even accept our home schooled graduate? What about socialization? How will we teach Chemistry or Algebra II and what about the prom? We started out in kindergarten, teaching phonics and the foundations of mathematics and thought it was hard. We continued on, growing with, and hopefully a little bit ahead of, our children. We stuck it out. We educated ourselves. We went to conferences, seminars, curriculum fairs and workshops. We asked a million questions and somehow found the answers. We volunteered. We gave our children well-rounded lives. We made sure they got plenty of socialization! They had music classes and dance classes and gymnastics classes and art classes and P.E. classes and roller skating and bowling and swimming. We helped with scout troops and science fairs and we put together yearbooks. We helped start home school sports teams and debate teams. Life was good.


Then, there on the horizon, looming ahead like some dark cloud was HIGH SCHOOL. It was frightening. It was scary. It kept us awake at night. How would we teach Chemistry and Algebra II and what about the prom? How will our kids get into college? And so, once again, we called on those moms who had started so many years ago and knew how to do these things well: pool their resources, ask a million questions and find the answers, and give their kids well-rounded lives. These wise women decided that if they could find good teachers to come and work with their kids in some of the difficult subjects that would enable them to continue home schooling through the high school years. Since it was still called home education then they had to work within the parameters set by the State of Tennessee and the umbrella schools. To be considered a home schooled student, the parent has to retain the primary responsibility and duty of teacher. However, there was a legal way to get some help AND still satisfy the home school requirements: a one-day a week “tutorial.” Those moms knew this could work! They weren’t sending their kids away to school. They were simply bringing in some teachers to work with their students one day a week. The teachers would help with the difficult subjects. They would have homework assignments and send home tests. But those same moms who started all this would still have to be the primary teachers. They would be the ones who would go over their student’s syllabus and homework. They would check to make sure their children were paying attention in class, getting all the work finished on time, studying for the exams, and remembering their books and homework when they went to the tutorial. Those moms weren’t abdicating their responsibility one bit. They were simply asking for some help. School was still going on at home 4 days a week. They were still assigning work and checking it. They were still doing lesson plans and sending in grades. But now they could sleep at night because they no longer had to worry about Chemistry and Algebra II.


But those wise women didn’t stop there. They knew that if they were struggling for answers in the high school years, then there were probably other parents doing the same thing. What if they could offer these classes to other students? They knew there were families who loved home educating their children but just didn’t feel qualified to teach difficult high school subjects. What if they shared their resources and teachers with those families? And so the home school tutorial was born.


The tutorial is not and can never be considered a full-time school. It is a one-day-a-week opportunity for families who want to continue home educating their children through the high school years. The parents must still retain the responsibility and authority for their children. But now they have real help, a guide or an aid, to get them through the high school years and help hold them (and their student) accountable.


If you are a veteran home schooling family who feels the need for some extra help during those high school years, the tutorial may be the perfect place for you. If you are new to home education and feel overwhelmed by the idea of teaching high school subjects, then the tutorial may be the perfect place for you, also. We welcome families who are committed to their children’s education, families who want to continue their paths of home schooling but just need a little help, and families who are willing to continue working with their children, holding them accountable, and encouraging them, for just a few more years.