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Many of you may already know that I was homeschooled from third grade on through high school. Having been homeschooled back in the 80's and 90's before it was popular, I feel that I have a unique perspective on the homeschooling boom that's happening now in our country and around the world.
When the pandemic hit our son was sent home with a "school work" packet. I was shocked when I opened the packet to see what they considered educational and worthy of spending our time. We decided right then that we would buy our own curriculum to finish out his school year and we've continued to homeschool him every since then. Now we're homeschooling both of our children.
No regrets, only freedom!
A few moms in my local homeschool group had mentioned they’d like me to share an honest review of the Kirk Cameron presents The Homeschool Awakening documentary. Here is my personal review after watching it last night on June 13th. Kirk Cameron presents The Homeschool Awakening is a special Fathom event presentation only available in theaters on June 13th and 14th.
Don't know what The Homeschool Awakening is all about? Watch the trailer below.
My initial reaction to just being there in a room with other people to see this documentary was excitement that the room was full of people either curious about homeschooling, contemplating homeschooling, or currently homeschooling. That in itself is encouraging.
I enjoyed watching personal stories of families and how and why they decided to homeschool. They pointed out the difference between choosing homeschool for your family vs. public school at home during the pandemic. Freedom was emphasized throughout the film which is one of my personal favorite things about homeschooling. The whole thing is very Christian-heavy in its messaging so if someone is not a Christian this may be counterproductive to recommend.
Personally I loved hearing Kirk Cameron and his wife talk about their homeschool experience because it feels like peeking behind the curtain on a celeb’s life, but there wasn’t any earth shattering information given to change the way we already do our own homeschool. The overall vibe of the whole film is encouraging and affirming that you CAN teach your children and that God gave them to you so you are best equipped to teach them. No one loves your kids like you do, so you'll give teaching them your full effort. They also laid out some solid facts about the history of our country never intending the public school system to exist or be how it is now.
Some of the talking points made by author Kathy Koch PhD about every child being different types of Smart resonated with me. She emphasizes that every child is smart, they're just different types of smart. I love that. There were some shameless book plugs made during her screen time but I do plan to read "8 Great Smarts for Homeschoolers: A Guide to Teaching Based on Your Child's Unique Strengths" when I get a chance.
All that said, I love lists so I’ve listed out my own pros and cons to the film.
Pros
- Encouragement. They repeatedly affirm that you CAN do it. This is valuable because who doesn’t need encouragement? Either getting started or already homeschooling we all need to be encouraged.
- Christian messaging that you’re doing the right thing raising your child the way that they should go so that when they’re old they will not depart. There’s lots of talk about devotions being the focus to homeschool.
- Showing glimpses of homeschooling in action for someone who has never seen that before.
- A few solid tips and advice for newbies. Before choosing a curriculum, establish how much time you have for homeschooling, establish your child’s learning strengths, find your local homeschooling community.
Cons
- Families depicted didn’t represent an average cross-section of homeschoolers. They seemed to only show wealthy families and too many self-employed families that weren’t relatable to the average family. They only interview one single parent and her lifestyle didn’t reflect the average single mother.
- Not enough actionable tips or starting points given. No real statistics about homeschooling.
- Too long winded. Every point made could have been made in an hour, they should have edited more, a lot of repeated phrases for emphasis that weren’t needed.
Overall I’m glad I went and I enjoyed watching the documentary but I felt there could be more substance such as facts about homeschooling or statistics about homeschool graduates. I was disappointed they didn’t show more average working class families to connect with the general public. If you already homeschool but need encouragement or if you’re in the early stages of deciding whether to homeschool then this will benefit you. If you already homeschool and feel good about it, this film likely won’t offer any new information for you, however, it's always good to support fellow homeschooling efforts.
At the end of the film they promote a Homeschool Success Kit sponsored by Teach Them Diligently.
What do you think? If you plan to go watch The Homeschool Awakening or have already watched it, share your thoughts about it with me in the comments.
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