Why We Homeschool

So, you’re thinking about homeschooling. That’s so great! No matter how you’ve ended up here or how long you decide to stay, you are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

Pre-COVID19, I would often get asked, sometimes in the most random places – grocery check-out for example (because why else would you take a bunch of kids out in public in the middle of a school day) – why I choose to homeschool. We have a whole slew of reasons – none include a global pandemic – and for the sake of this entry, I’m going to share why we love homeschooling. This will be more of a “why homeschooling is amazing” and less of “why not to put your kids in school”. If you are beginning this journey because of the way the schools are going to look as they reopen, my prayer for you is that you find yourself with a myriad of new reasons to CONTINUE homeschooling. Here are some of ours…

Why on earth would someone CHOOSE to keep their kids home when someone else is offering (requiring by law) to take them off your hands for five of the seven days of the week? Well, for us, that was exactly the problem. I genuinely like being with my kids. Don’t get me wrong, there are days when I am very tempted to pile them all in the car & drop them on the front steps of our neighborhood school, but for the majority of the time, we really do love spending our days together. Through homeschooling, not only am I able to watch the joy & excitement when one of my kids learns a new skill or masters a concept, but I get to watch the relationships between them grow in a way that wouldn’t be possible if they were separated for 8+ hours a day. The conversations that take place and the way they work together to get out of doing chores or completing a task no one wants to do is inspiring! Seriously, even in the mundane, day-to-day routines, the relationships that we are able to foster are the greatest blessing of homeschooling.

My husband and I also want to be the primary influences in the lives of our kids; to be able to instill in them our values & beliefs, to raise them up, shepherd them & teach them through a biblical worldview. We are able to walk alongside our kids when they are struggling and we can put curriculum & lesson plans on the back burner when there’s a character issue that needs to be addressed. In a home with a “strong-willed” (and that’s putting it mildly) 5 year-old and a middle schooler (need I say more?), the ability to tackle those character issues head on and immediately has proven to be invaluable! We are able to direct our kids to the Word of God, stop & pray and instruct them the way we see fit throughout our days, whenever & where ever we need to.

As I mentioned, we are able to come alongside our kids when they are struggling and that goes for academics as well. We are able to set our own pace, be it “slow & steady” or if something just clicks, that kid doesn’t have to wait for the rest of the class in order to move on. This has been such a perk! As we are all well aware, every child is unique and has strengths & weaknesses, natural gifts & God given talents. Each of my kids have excelled in different areas and often times where one finds success, another might struggle (they do like to point that out to one another and that’s where you’ll be directed back to the above paragraph on attacking character issues!). Each of my children have learned to read at different ages and I can’t stress enough that THAT IS OK! The same goes for math facts or paragraph writing, etc. We are able to truly individualize our kids education to suit their particular needs & strengths and go at a pace that is best for our family.

Finally, something that has been an added bonus and a kind of convenience of homeschooling is the freedom to get out and do things when the rest of the world is in school or at work. The word “homeschooling” can be a bit of a misnomer as we do A LOT out and about. We live in a part of the country that lends itself nicely to getting out in the winter when the weather is perfection and we tend to start school in the dead of summer when it’s too hot and humid to do much outdoors. We can take advantage of a random Tuesday at a museum or Wednesday at the aquarium. We will also do simple things like ride bikes around the neighborhood or go to a park with friends in the middle of the week. It’s a wonderful way to break up the day, get sunshine & fresh air. You’ll be amazed at all the places learning can take place!

Of all the benefits and reasons why we homeschool, the biggest and most important is definitely the relationships…the relationships between brother & sisters, between sisters and between the parents and our children. Especially during a time in history where there is so much division & disconnection, the relationships built within the walls of your own home are critically important. It’s been said that if you want to change the world, start at home. Homeschooling definitely has the potential to change the world, but even if it doesn’t, I promise it will change yours, and all for the better!