Recently someone asked if I homeschool because it’s easier than getting my kids to traditional school. I had to smother a laugh. Yes, I’m glad I don’t have to shuffle kids into the car each morning and brave the pickup line each afternoon. Yes, we love taking vacations when everyone else is tucked behind a desk. But our decision to homeschool is so much deeper than these reasons touch on. And it is far from easy.
**Before I begin let me say that how you choose to school your children is a personal choice. Homeschool is not for everyone and within homeschool there are various types {free schooling, classical, structured, online, etc}. My point in this post is not to shame anyone for choosing different than we have chosen, nor is it to say our way is best. But whenever people find out we teach our kids at home I get two immediate reactions: 1) people think I’m amazing and super patient for doing it, 2) they want to know why we chose to educate this way. So I figured a blog post would dispel some of the rumors of my patience and answer the incredulous question “Why?” Keep in mind different families homeschool for different reasons. Some of what I have below may not apply to all who school this way.**
Last week, I was explaining the hundreds place to my older daughter while cutting out a paper bat for my son and holding my nine month old who happened to be screaming in my ear. At that moment, our decision to school at home was anything but easy or desirable. When we left our little schoolroom - basically a walkin closet - I asked myself why I was doing this. And it wasn’t the first time I’d asked.
I’m going to first address the reasons people assume we homeschool but are false. These are things people have said about our decision but are not true for us.
-We don’t trust other people. This is almost laughable. I enjoy it when my kids can learn from others. For three years we were involved in a Co-Op and most of the time I was not with my kids for those three hours every week. Giving my kids the opportunity to sit in a classroom and listen and raise their hands was great for them. They also take music lessons and self defense classes from people outside our family.
-We only teach what we believe. This is a big one. My kids know about evolution, other religions, ancient mythology. We don’t shelter them from the world. But we do get to teach them through a biblical worldview lens, answer their questions without going through a third party, and choose when to introduce topics. Anyone will tell you children develop at different rates. So being able to see what my individual child can process and grasp and choose when to start talking about evolution vs creation, etc is a huge benefit of homeschool. And I’ll be honest, some of the questions they randomly ask from talking to friends, watching Netflix, or reading still catch me off guard. But I’m glad we have the framework of learning together daily to approach each question in turn.
-It’s less expensive to homeschool. Again, completely false. For two years we participated in ‘public online school’ where I was sent all the material and could teach it how I wanted and it was completely free. However, we had to do state testing, online meetings with a teacher, and keep to the district school schedule. The benefit was FREE!! But we decided we wanted to choose curriculum and my daughter was tired of having everything online. So now we purchase books, manipulatives, learning resources, etc that we want to use in addition to paying our state taxes for education.
So now that I’ve covered why my husband and I DON’T homeschool, why DO we?
-I love learning with them. It can be draining to go over the same concepts day after day and wonder when we’ll move on, but once it clicks I love seeing the pride and joy they take in it. And it really stretches me also. I have to change how I explain something or find another example that maybe will help them better. And their curiosity about things keeps me learning and exploring and seeing the world through new eyes. My kids love animals and over the last few years, I have learned more random animal facts and watched more nature programs than I thought possible.
-We get to learn together. My son doesn’t realize it but he knows more at four years old than I did. Because he has never liked to be alone, for the last three years he’s been sitting in on school with his older sister. When we read, he’s right there answering questions about the scene and characters. When we do science experiments he wants to watch the “volcano” explode and plant his own bean seed and everything. The other day, we were reading about Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller and he closed his eyes and covered his ears, trying to imagine a life lived in darkness and silence. Knowledge doesn’t have age limits.
-We can take time for extra things. My daughter loves crafts and art. So we’ve been learning about different artists every other week and doing a craft project. Since she’s taking piano lessons, we’ve also been learning about composers. I’ve already mentioned our animal fascination and we regularly check out the live animal cameras at the San Diego Zoo and a few other places, just to see what the pandas in Washington DC might be doing on a Wednesday afternoon. With online resources and YouTube, it’s amazing what we can learn about. And that doesn’t include our library trips!!
-I get to be with my kids all day. Moment of honesty: sometimes this introvert wishes I had a day to myself. I am far from perfect in my attitude and cheerfulness and joy every moment of everyday. But being a stay at home homeschooling mom has grown me and stretched me and taught me a lot about myself. I’m not as patient as I would like, I like things done a certain way, I definitely need grace and strength from God. When I look back on each day, I’m amazed at all the little blessings I saw. My daughter reading to her brother for Book It points, my son tracing his name with master concentration, the older kids playing with the baby and setting the table. They sometimes fight - we deal with hurt feelings and bad attitudes and complaining just like everyone else - but I am there to help them apologize and forgive and start a dance party. Though the days be hard I’m thankful this is what we’ve chosen.
As I said before, people choose how to educate their children for different reasons and our choice is not the right one for everyone. You may start with one type of school but switch as your family changes. But whatever your choice - public, charter, homeschool, private, online - remember that you as a parent are your children’s biggest influence. Even if they aren’t with you most of the day, get into their lives, learn with them, laugh with them, teach them. God placed your children in your family for you to disciple them. Pray for these gifts from God and never take a moment for granted.
For more reasons I love homeschooling, check out this post.
Photo by Evan Kirby on Unsplash