We are a homeschool family. Honestly, I never thought I would be a homeschool family. I didn’t grow up being homeschooled and I am a teacher, so of course I value education. We registered our oldest for kindergarten at our neighborhood school, and as the weeks drew closer, the decision to send her just never felt “right.”
As I researched more and more, homeschooling seemed like it would be a better fit.
After making the decision to homeschool a couple years ago, we get a lot of questions about why we do it. The truth is there is not one reason, but rather a few reasons all adding up to why this is the right choice for our family.
One the reasons we chose to homeschool was that it was better for our schedule. We operate on a later schedule and getting up early and rushing out the door everyday did not seem like it would work. Safety was another concern, and then of course, just the quality of education and questioning whether a school could teach our kids in the way that would work for them. Both my husband and I did not have positive views of our own education, so that helped drive the decision further. Ultimately, I thought I can give her the same things she can get in a classroom, so why not?
When we first started homeschooling, I thought I could give my kids everything they could get in a classroom, but I after two years I realized that I can’t do that. I can’t give them the same experience they would get in a classroom, but then again, isn’t that the point of homeschooling? The classroom experience was not a positive one for me, so why would I try to recreate that? We have made homeschooling work for us, working in time for basics like math and reading, but also having plenty of extra time to spend outdoors or specific things my kids are interested in learning about.
Our table is a mess almost everyday, filled with science experiments, art projects or school supplies for homeschool.
We often finish our work within a couple hours, which leaves plenty of time for fun. We can take breaks, work at their pace and do not have to have a set schedule. Plus, they get to stay up a little later, which means more time with dad in the evenings after he gets off work. Homeschooling, while it takes some of my time to work on lessons and plan, in the long run, we get back so much more time. More time with our kids, more time for them to work on topics that are harder for them and more time to do the things they truly love doing.
Homeschooling works for our family, but that is not to say it will work for everyone. Not everyone has the time or resources available to do it. The answer might not be for everyone to homeschool, but rather to give everyone a good education and perhaps challenge the way traditional classrooms have been created so that maybe they can work for everyone someday, too.
