It’s Friday night…and, I’m blogging. But in my defense, I’ve been looking forward to this all day and my four kids finally all went to bed. I managed to get through a workout, took a quick shower, called my husband who is out of town on business, and finally crawled into my favorite place to work–bed!
So, my 5-year old successfully completed her 24th day of homeschool today. As an ex-secondary teacher, it’s quite an accomplishment for me to get through this small milestone with her. Teaching high schoolers took a much different approach than teaching a kindergartner…a novice student, if you will. I see the passion she has for learning, the willingness she has to sit in my lap as we read a book, and her excitement over a bottle of glue and her blunt scissors as we create a craft. Though she’s often distracted by her undiagnosed ADHD, her brothers playing with the pots and pans in the kitchen just below the classroom in the loft, and all her toys seemingly calling her name, I’m still thoroughly enjoying every moment I have with her.
Since I left teaching a couple of years ago, my husband and I agreed that homeschool would be best for our family. When people ask us what school our daughter attends, we tell them she’s homeschooled. Then we get what I like to call “the look”. The look like we just admitted we are way better than most people. The look like we are social hermits and have a severe distrust for society. The look like we are….well, weird.
The truth is, there are many reasons why we decided to homeschool our children. Some of them are selfish, some of them just make sense, and some of them are for the sake of our children Though I don’t feel like I need to defend our decision, I thought I would share our reasons here:
- Homeschooling offers a super flexible schedule. Homeschooling gives us the option to craft our week around our schedules and activities. We can do math in our pajamas, practice reading in the van on the way to pick up groceries, and take an early recess for however long we need to when we need to refocus. I don’t have to pull the kids out of school to attend doctor’s appointments, and we can go on family emergency leave whenever we need to. Additionally, as long as we get in 180 days of instruction in the academic year, then we can structure our weeks however we see fit. The flexibility of homeschooling is the number one reason we decided to homeschool our children. It just works for our family!
- Homeschooling allows me to teach what is actually important and interesting. Though our state mandates that instruction takes place in the 5 core subjects for elementary students (reading, writing, math, science, and social studies), I can include any enrichment curricula I desire, such as music, art, PE, home economics, etc. This will be especially key in high school. As a special education teacher, so many of my caseload students were scheduled into classes they weren’t interested in at all because nothing else was open and the students had to fulfill an elective requirement. With the advent of the Internet, I can teach my children virtually anything they want for electives without the fear of the class being full.
- Homeschooling is especially beneficial for military families. Military families, like ourselves, often face multiple moves during a child’s academic career. These moves can set children months, even years, behind in learning. Homeschooling helps to avoid that loss of instruction by providing a continual platform of learning that I can control. So regardless of if we end up in California or Germany, my children’s education will be minimally interrupted.
- Homeschooling allows me a chance to continue doing what I love. Here’s my selfish reason for homeschooling…when I left teaching a couple of years ago, I was sort of at odds since I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. I had spent 13 years in college working toward a Ph.D. in education, and all of that felt wasted when I left. Now, however, I have a chance to apply my education, a reason to continue research, the joy of watching my “students” learn and grow, and the rewards and challenges associated with teaching. I feel like I belong again to a community of educators and have found more purpose for my life.
- Homeschooling will provide my children with the best education possible. Let’s face it, teaching is no easy feat these days. Teachers are bombarded with increasing demands, tasks, paperwork, and other duties that take away from their ability to teach. Don’t forget the interruptions, such as assemblies and fire drills and lock downs. Throw all of that on top of a class of 42 students, 21 of which have an IEP (I’ve been there), and it’s no wonder teachers are burned out and frustrated and students aren’t reaching full capability. This was unfortunately the scenario in 6 out of the 8 different schools at which I’ve taught. In my opinion, it took extraordinary students and exceptional teachers to survive, let alone thrive, in those conditions. I can eliminate 90% of those factors at home (I can’t stop the robocalls!) and give my children a higher quality education in about half the time in a safer, more conducive learning environment.
Homeschooling may not be the best choice for all families. Most American families require two incomes to make ends meet, and this really limits their ability to homeschool. Many families prefer their children to attend special programs at the schools (STEM, magnet programs, special education programs, etc.) and may not be able to provide their children the resources their schools offer. Other families want their children involved in extracurricular or athletic opportunities, especially if opportunities for scholarships come out of involvement in those programs. Schools are a fundamental building block of all societies and absolutely serve an important purpose. Homeschooling does require sacrifices, usually at the risk of socialization opportunities and cost benefits, but the benefits outweigh those sacrifices and make homeschooling an excellent fit for our family.
What about you? Do you homeschool or are you considering it? What are your thoughts about it? Leave a comment below…I’d love to hear from you!