Top 5 reasons why I homeschool

Since my oldest son plays baseball for our city, I often get asked by the other parents what school he goes to. If you homeschool, you have likely been asked the same question, and have been in this scenario before- 

Other mom- "does your child go to (insert local school name) also?" 

Me- "no, we homeschool" 

Other mom- "...oh...."

You know what I'm talking about, that very mild but condescending, what is she thinking, how will she ever teach her kids all they need to know... "oh".  So let me just put it out there for all of you that may be questioning those that are homeschooling or maybe even those that are considering it. Homeschooling may not be for everyone, and I certainly will not be criticizing you if you don't do it, every family's needs are different and every situation is different. I have a lot of friends that homeschool , and a lot that don't. If you were to ask me my opinion about doing it or not, I would tell you, if you don't ask me that's fine too. I don't intend on losing friends over it, and you shouldn't either. Stand firm in your decision, know who you are as a christian and do what you know is best for your family. Be the parent that YOU need to be for YOUR family. Homeschooling is right for us for right now so that is what we are going to do. It's hard and it's stressful and very overwhelming at times, but (IMO) the rewards and benefits far out weigh all of that.  Here is a list of reasons (in no specific order) why we do it:

 1) IT SAVES OUR VALUABLE TIME. We have friends that go to our local public school that are in the same grade as my oldest son. They told me that after being in school for 8 hours a day, he comes home with HOURS worth of homework! This is kindergarten! and what has he been doing all day to have that much to do when he gets home?! We can get all of our work done in an hour to an hour and half ( keep in mind it is K5, so it's nothing difficult yet). We have the whole rest of the day to do whatever we want. We can spend it as a family, and get to truly know our kids. 

2) I CAN CATER MY TEACHING TO EXACTLY WHAT MY KIDS NEED AND WANT TO KNOW.  I can teach them each the way they need to be taught and the way that they learn best. There is no way that you can teach 30 students the exact same way, and all of them understand what is going on. At home, if my son has a problem understanding something, I can spend as much time on that one specific thing as he needs me to. I can also change the curriculum mid year if he is not understanding that one. I can teach my kids things that actual matter and things that they will actually learn in life. Plus, if they have a bigger interest in one particular subject over another, I spend more time teaching that subject in depth, where as public school will just move on, and not help cultivate his passion for it. We can experience things first hand by actually going places and researching things more, growing things, doing things. There are no caps on their learning, the sky is the limit! 

3) WE CAN TRAVEL AND HAVE MORE FUN. There are no certain times or days or breaks that we have to follow. Don't get me wrong, we do keep a schedule, but we have the opportunity to be flexible with it. If we want to travel, we can take our school with us. If we want to go to the park, we can do school when we get back. We can have play dates and shopping trips and run errands and do lots of other things, all while still getting our school done for that day. While we are on the subject of socialization, I will just briefly say, I know a lot of people think negatively about homeschooling because they think that the kids are just at home in a bubble with their parents. Well that is definitely not true! My kids have plenty of friends and get plenty of socialization. The thing is, now I get to be the one that picks their friends. They aren't learning negative things from those at school that don't have the same values we do. Call me over protective if you want, I don't care. Because in the end, I will be the one that stands in front of the Lord when he asks me what I did with the 3 little blessings he gave me. It's my job to protect my children and my job to teach them right from wrong.  My job to turn them into the best adult and spouse that they can be. 

4) I FEEL LIKE THEY ARE SAFER AT HOME. Again,call me over protective if you like, but I watch the news. I see the horrible things that happen to child when they are not under their parents supervision. I hear about things that go on at schools- shootings, rape, drugs, abductions...these are just not things that I can deal with. I want to protect my kids as long as possible, and keep them innocent as long as possible. The world has turned to a hard dark and corrupt place, and I want to keep my kids from experiencing that for as long as I can. 

5) I LIKE MY KIDS. (today anyway, tomorrow could be different lol) I want to spend time with them, I love seeing them grow and learn, I love being together with them. I don't want to send my kids to school for 8 hours, come home and do 3 hours of homework, then send them off to bed, only to do it again the next day. My time is valuable to me, and my time with my kids is even more precious. I know there will come a day where it won't be cool to hang out with their mom, and I want to know that when that day does come, I didn't waste the time I did have with them. Again, I understand that homeschooling is not even a possibility for everyone, and that makes me appreciate it so much more. I am so grateful that I get to stay home with my kids and teach them and watch them turn into the young men that the Lord has called them to be. For us, for right now, it works. I love it and can't wait to see what's in store next for our family.