Why homeschool? There are probably as many reasons why as there are families who chose this alternative to the norm. However, as we prepare to start another year of homeschooling, I always sit down and review our why. It's not so that I can determine if homeschooling is still the best fit for each of our children at this time, I do that before I ever start planning the next homeschooling year back in March and April. It's more to arm myself for the upcoming school year. Therefore tonight, just one week before we kick off the 2023-2024 school year, I am reminding myself why we do this thing that is so very hard, that requires so much out of us.
Homeschooling requires monumental self sacrifice. It's about being so invested and a part of your child's education that you put educating them above everything else you could be doing. I'm not saying that those who don't homeschool don't sacrifice for their children or that they don't care as much about their education. What I'm trying to say is that homeschooling is a life that necessitates a vast outpouring at the expense of anything else you want to do. I could have been a historian, and written countless books in the last 15 years. I could have finished my masters and gotten my doctorate as planned. I could be teaching for money in a college somewhere, and having adult conversations. Or even on a smaller level, I could have put the kids in school and reclaimed time for my own pursuits in the day. I could have done more of the fun things with the younger kids that I did with the oldest two. I could spend a ton of money on washi if I wasn't buying school books every year. Knowing that there will be days when I ask myself why am I doing this, when there is an easier option out there, means I need to have, not just a reason to homeschool, but an excellent reason, a reason that is worth sacrificing for.
Several years ago, when I was still on the fence about how much I wasn't sure I wanted to do this homeschooling thing, I saw another mom who sat down and wrote down the reasons why she was choosing to homeschool. I heard of another mom who kept a file folder of encouraging reasons why homeschooling was best for her family for the hard days. So back in year 3 probably, when we were starting to actually get into academics and struggling so much with teaching the two oldest to read, I told the husband that we needed a why. I needed to be able to remember, on those days when I forgot, just why we were doing this really hard thing. After all, I never felt like I was called to homeschool. Some people feel that way about it. I just looked at our other options at the time, and felt like this was the best one for where we were at. I still, though we are very much invested these days, try to step back and determine is this still what is best for each of our children at this time. Since it isn't a calling from the Lord for me, I needed to know just what it was that we were trying to accomplish that was best achieved at home. That is how we came up with the following list.
We homeschool because it is the best fit for our family, in order to provide a high quality, individualized education. I have never doubted my ability to teach our children, not because I come from a family of educators, and went to college to be able to teach history collegiately. But because I cared and I would find what was needed to give them a high quality education. As some of our children have been diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD I've only been more convinced that as a mother who cares with a classroom of now four, the education I can provide is more individualized than any public or private classroom can provide. I, who know them better than anyone else, can better know when to push and when to step back. No one could tailor their education like I have been able to.
We homeschool because it is the best fit for our family, in order to instill a love of learning and reading. Remember those kids that are dyslexic? In school they would have been pushed along and hurried up until they hated learning, because it felt like something they couldn't do. They wouldn't have ever reached the point of reading for enjoyment because they would have always compared themselves to everyone around them, and felt stupid for struggling with something that comes naturally for so many. Rather than that self doubt, they have developed passionate interest because we could progress on their time table. Even now, as they enter high school we can balance, eye reading with ear reading, incorporating audio books and altering the pacing to challenge them without overwhelming them. Oh I know public schools are required to write IEPs and grant accommodations, but from experience I know that it is asking the impossible of a teacher with a classroom of twenty-five to thirty to do some of the things that were written in the 504 plan for our ADHD and dyslexic kids. But for me, these aren't accommodations, I just teach to them as individuals.
We homeschool because it is the best fit for our family, in order to foster creativity and curiosity in the world around us. Children have a natural curiosity in the world around them, and have wonderous imaginations. Somewhere along 13 years of school they tend to lose that. Several studies have documented the phenomena, one even postulating that "schools have several drawbacks, including traditional teaching methods that interfere with the creative process and even reduce creativity..." I value those two things, and feel like they drive real education, I want to do all I can by giving them access to the real world and pursuing their questions to increase their creativity and curiosity not hamper them. With the opportunity to do more than school inside four walls from books, I can let them do and explore keeping their creativity and curiosity alive. I'm confident those skills will help them to be a success in any field they choose.
We homeschool because it is the best fit for our family, in order to strength relationships and build character. Do you have any idea how many opportunities we have during the day to work on character issues, and sometimes they are Momma's failings. Being together in close quarters, leads to problems coming to the surface which gives us the chance to address issues and talk about heart matters. Talking about these things and dealing with them together leads to growth. Both growth as individuals and growth in relationships. They are each other's best friends, not because they don't get a chance to hang out with others, but because they have deep and meaningful relationships that can only be built by spending time together. I wanted that for my children, and I want that for our family.
We homeschool because it is the best fit for our family, in order to create a safe and nurturing environment in which our children can learn how to lead God honoring lives as they mature. This one was Gary's greatest driving forces in convincing me to homeschool the kids. I was somewhat sheltered in my public school experience, but he saw kids fight teachers, he saw drugs being done on campus, he dealt with things that he didn't want our kids exposed to, and it's only gotten worse in the 25 years since he graduated. We don't shelter our children from hard topics, but rather we address them in age appropriate ways and have deep conversations not only about why we believe what we do, but what drives others that don't believe as us. So many of these conversations happen organically only because we spend so much time together. It's allowed us to protect their childhood and encouraged them to grow on their own innate schedule. It has come to be my greatest desire for our family in homeschooling.
Every year, until this year I have written this out by hand in my planner, and really asked myself if we are meeting these goals, and how I can do better over the next year. And while, I suppose to a certain extent, we won't know if we have accomplished what we set out to, until the kids are grown and flown, we try to do these things every day, year in and year out. Each year I come to the conclusion that the best way for us to do these things is to continue to homeschool. So in this upcoming school year, when I have yellow bus envy and wish it would just come and take all these kids away for the day, I will read through this list, and I will remember and keep plugging away at this parenting thing, and pray that the Lord will bless our efforts. I will remember that we do this for them.
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