The 5 Reasons We Homeschool
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Today we have a treat in a guest post from Mrs. onFIREfamily, Jennifer, on the five reasons we homeschool our kids:
In the fall of 2020, we are entering a school year of uncertainty and anxiety. Well, I guess that is the royal we. We, as in me and my house, are entering it with less anxiety. That is because we are also entering our sixth year of homeschooling. So we don’t have a lot of the school uncertainty that plagues most of the country, and the world, right now. We will go ahead (almost) as normal, using the same curriculum and schedule I was already planning. We will miss co-op and friends, but that is nothing compared to the anxiety that parents of in-school children are facing right now.
We are less than two years from leaving our home to travel on the Great Loop for a year. Being seasoned homeschoolers already puts us at an enormous advantage to take on this monumental journey as a family. We started homeschooling in the Fall of 2015 and haven’t looked back. Up until 2020, I was barraged with questions about why I pulled my kids out of school. I was especially asked this because our kids were in a highly sought-after charter school that churned out kids with great test scores and analytical thinking skills. Why would I pull them from such a great school? Are you qualified to teach them? What about socialization? (Always the socialization). What about sports? What about college? And on and on and on.
Then 2020 hit and parents got hit with a lot of realities all at once. They got to see the inner workings of a classroom (albeit online) and learned more about what their children are actually learning. Many started to question the worth of a partial education. Now I am barraged with questions about how to homeschool and curriculum and schedule and please PLEASE HELP US! And I am more than happy to help. So, I have organized our reasons for homeschooling into five categories to answer the original questions about our decision and to assist others in their pursuit.
1. Relationships
This is A Number 1 for me, and it encompasses so much of who we are as a family. My daughter and my husband are introverts, while my son and I are extroverts. I have been known to say that raising my introverted daughter as a super outgoing mom is like raising a being from another planet. I struggle to understand her social anxiety and thought processes. And sending her to school was not helping with that. While her school was “great,” it was also taking all she had. She used up all her good at school to make it through the day, and everything after that was a hassle. Add in homework (a crazy amount for a seven-year old) and a perfectionist mom, and our relationship was taking a hit. She was a wreck and I was unfairly pushing her and comparing her to other kids. I could see that the “great” education was headed nowhere good, and so we started looking into schooling at home.
The other major relationship consideration is that I LIKE MY KIDS. I like to spend time with them, and lots of it. Summer break was my FAVORITE, and not just because of the weather. I loved all of the outings and snuggle time. I enjoyed the slower pace. I enjoyed being with them, even when they were “so bored mommy!” Every year I dreaded sending them back to school because I knew I would miss them so much (and I can assure you that I am not the sentimental parent). And I was SOOO close to having all day to myself (super tempting). Everyone thought I was crazy!
But not for long. After just a few weeks at home, even school mommy friends mentioned how much my daughter had improved socially, like answering direct questions and looking them in the eyes. HUGE milestone. Her relationship with her brother also improved. They do argue and fight like normal siblings, but they have both told me separately that the other one is their best friend. Homeschooling saved our mother-daughter relationship, and it has probably saved every relationship she will ever have.
2. Family Values
We family hard. Even before homeschooling, we spent an inordinately large amount of time together. We vacation in the middle of nowhere up in a fire watch tower, we stay in close quarters on the boat for days. Each parent makes it a priority to attend all sports, music, theater, etc. events that our children are involved in. The word family is both a noun and a verb for us. While a huge adjustment, moving the kids home for school was not a huge disruption.
We also want to instill our values into our children as much as we can. We are Christians and strong in our faith in Jesus. Sending our kids to public school in a liberal town was causing conflict. My daughter had conflicts on the playground, and I had conflicts with the teachers and principal about content. I am not conflict averse, but I can tell you that educating my children at home has removed a lot of that from our lives. And at the same time, they are learning daily about God and His love, not just the bit on Sundays.
3. Flexibility
I am not known for my flexibility. I thrive on a filled schedule, and disruptions to that schedule are not encouraged. But homeschooling has made me grow into a more flexible person. We don’t have to do every math problem. We can take a day or week off for mental health. My son can take a class about Pokémon that is actually teaching him about writing paragraphs. We can travel during the school year. Homeschooling makes it so easy to be flexible with time and goals. When my husband approached me about leaving for a year to boat the Great Loop as a family, I did not hesitate to say yes. I LOVE my house, and I LOVE visiting with my friends, and I LOVE my schedule. But the Great Loop offers so many benefits to their education, our family time, and learning life skills, that saying no wasn’t an option. And the flexibility of homeschool will make that dream possible.
4. Passion
My husband and I are both chemical engineers. I teach Chemistry and Physics at our homeschool co-op. I have a passion for math and science. My kids, mmmm, not so much. My daughter’s passions are music and art. My son is all about theater and dance. None of that is my bag. I used to play violin, which is actually a left-brained instrument (go me, even my instrument is nerdy), so I can assist with reading music, but I am at a total loss with the visual and performance arts. But that’s okay. While they still have to do math and science, I encourage them in their passions. I spend (too much) money and drive all over creation for them to follow their passions. I revel in watching them perform and showing me their creations. It is mind-boggling to me that two engineers begat two such talented little people. Homeschooling enables us to turn those passions into realities.
5. Going Deep and Wide
There are SO many activities for kids these days. There are so many things my kids want to do. There are so many things I want them to try. When my daughter used all of her energy at school, she had very little left for homework, let alone piano lessons and t-ball practice. Homeschool allows us to incorporate their desired extra-curricular activities into their education, while keeping their sanity. Sports count as PE, learning an instrument counts as music, they can learn both music and art (unlike most public schools). They have time to read for fun, not just time to read the homework assignment. Time to work at a job and volunteer. Are they a budding botanist or chef? Science and life skills all in one! They don’t have to sacrifice extra learning and extra activities on the altar of doing extra homework.
There are so many reasons we homeschool, but it really all boils down to relationship and passion. Do you have time to focus on the people and the passions you love? That’s the real lesson and it has served us very well.
