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Are you considering homeschooling your children? Have you thought about it, but always been afraid to actually do it? Today I will share with you my thoughts on why I homeschool my children.
This is a post I have tried to write a few times, but never seem to be able to express all of my thoughts and feelings. I am going to try my best to give you my reasons for choosing to homeschool my children.
I never planned on homeschooling, in fact I thought homeschoolers were weird! I know lots of my friends and family probably still feel that way… The first thoughts of homeschooling started with my oldest son, long before he would even go into kindergarten. He is a very intelligent child and was bored in preschool. He loved learning and was reading very well by age three. He devours books, still. I started worrying about sending him to school when he would be way above the level of those in his class. I didn’t want him bored, or not wanting to go because it was too easy. I started reading a few books and slowly wrapping my brain around the thought of homeschooling. My cousins were homeschooled, so I called my aunt for support. She gave me the courage to take the first step. But, I was terrified! I read every book I could get my hands on for about 2 years to prepare myself. I knew it was the right choice for my family, but still felt very frightened. It is a scary leap, but I was starting in kindergarten. I knew I could handle teaching kindergarten, I know my alphabet and can count to 20.
Over time my reasons have grown and evolved. Now that I have been on this journey for a few years, I am even more sure of the choice I made. I love it so much that I couldn’t imagine sending my children to school! I have even gotten over worrying what others think.
Here are some of my reasons for homeschooling:
- Being able to preserve the love of learning that children are born with
- Teaching my children on their level with one-on-one instruction
- If we really love a subject, we keep learning about it
- Building strong family relationships
- Not sending my children away for 7 hours to be taught by people I know nothing about
- Teaching religion and values along with all areas of study
- Being released from the negative pressures and social influences
- I know my kids better than anyone else
- My kids are really learning the subjects, not just glossing over them to pass state standards
- I can research and find the very best curriculum options for my children
- We can do hands-on learning all the time
- I get to watch them learn and grow and explore instead of hearing about it second-hand
- We can have school in the woods, on the bed, at a museum, at the park, at the zoo, in the mountains, in our pajamas, in costume, anywhere!
- I don’t have to be at school all day
- I don’t have to get up super early and rush to get out the door while it is still dark
- I can eat my breakfast slowly while reading my book
- I can choose what I want to learn and how I want to learn it
- I can learn about God in school, and pray
I loved his answers! What are your reasons for choosing to homeschool?
Jennifer says
August 18, 2012 at 3:48 amI just found your blog through Latter-Day Homeschooling and I love it! I really like this post – we homeschool for very similar reasons. I’m so glad I found your blog – hop over and visit me sometime 🙂
Jennifer
http://www.dainty-posies.blogspot.com