Why I Chose To Home School

Lately, when I've told people that I've chosen to home school I've been given the following responses, "Really?  That's awesome!  I wish that I could do that." and "Really?  Why would you want to do that?"

So, I thought that I'd take this post and explain a little bit why I/we have chosen to home school.

The #1 reason why is for my son.  

He is going into the 4th grade, and for the past 3 years I've had nothing but trouble from his teachers.  They always seemed to have issues with him.  Whether it be he doesn't sit still, he's too imaginative, he's not learning fast enough, he's too emotional, blah blah blah.  

One thing that his teachers all had in common was their unwillingness to help my son.  They all said that they wanted to help, but when approached with the idea of an IEP, his last teacher snubbed her nose at the idea.  

The bottom line is that my son is always in his own head.  He's always thinking about things and he has a hard time focusing on subjects that are not fun or interesting to him. Which only causes frustration for his teachers when they are trying to manage a classroom full of 25 + kids.  

To quote Uncle Buck:  "I don't think I want to know a six-year-old who isn't a dreamer, or a sillyheart. And I sure don't want to know one who takes their student career seriously. I don't have a college degree. I don't even have a job. But I know a good kid when I see one. Because they're ALL good kids, until dried-out, brain-dead skags like you drag them down and convince them they're no good."  

My daughter on the other hand is another story.  She's only been through Kindergarten and hasn't really encountered learning difficulties yet.  The only negative thing that her teacher had to say was that she talks too much.  She's a girl!  Get over it!  She might struggle with some things, and she might not.  Regardless, she can learn at her own pace and hopefully excel in learning at home. 

Reason #2 is because my hubby and I like the flexibility of home school.  We like that our kids can learn at their own pace without having to meet "industry standards".  We also like that we can move around, if needs be, without having to make our kids change schools.  The hubs and I have moved so much for work and such, and we never know what is coming next in life.  We pray all the time that God will lead us to where ever He wants us to go.  We are willing to move to another country if He sees fit.  Homeschooling gives us a little bit of that freedom.  

Another added bonus is that now we can go on vacation whenever we see fit.  Since my hubby works for our church he almost always has to work on major holidays, and then we have to cram a short family holiday in before the kids go back to school.  Not any more!  Now we can go and stay for as long as we want without having to worry about making it home in time for school to resume.  

Reason #3 is honestly for religious and personal reasons.  We, by no means, want to shelter our children or preserve their innocence forever.  Yet we do think that they should learn about certain things that are in this world from us......not the school system or other loud mouthed kids.  It's the old "garbage in, garbage out" kind of thing.  Without proper understanding of certain things in this world my kids can get the wrong ideas. You can assume what you want by the former statement, but it is what it is.  It is our jobs as parents to guide our children to the Lord and the path that He has set for them.  To instill compassion and love for other people and to see God's beauty in this world.  Homeschooling gives us another avenue to do that.  We can integrate Bible verses and Bible stories into their every day learning.  This way when sin comes a knocking, they can hopefully be a little bit more prepared to understand what is going on and to battle it.

I hope that this helps those who are questioning why we are doing this.  We are very excited to get started.  I plan on blogging about this new life adventure as much as I can.  My hope is that other Moms out there will be encouraged through my home schooling adventures.  It's not as hard as you think.  I know that a few years back when I first thought about doing it, I was afraid and intimidated because I am not a patient person.  Bottom line, children's education is more important than my patience issue.