Why the heck do we homeschool?

Of course one of the big questions I am asked is why John and I chose to homeschool our kids. While we are Jesus followers that isn’t the only reason I do this. Acutally, it’s not even them main reason, to tell the truth. Many, many parents homeschool because they are afraid of what their kids are being taught in public school. We’re more worried about HOW they are being taught. I found a fantastic quote that sounds anti-community but is bold enough to match our bold decision, “I’ve seen the village, and I don’t want it raising my children.”

Here are some of the reasons we made this decision, some of which will be discussed at length later.

• I want them to have the ability to learn at their own pace.
• I want control over curriculum and areas of study.
• I want to spend more time with them. I was one of the parents who was in school all the time because I missed my kids so much and had no reason to be home alone anyway.
• They don’t need to sit in a desk most of the day, restrained to one classroom.
• They need space and freedom to explore and be creative.
• They don’t need to be ‘educated’ they need to learn.
• I don’t want them stuck into a category and identified by a grade number.
• I want them to have more opportunity to associate with people of all ages and social situations, not a room full of kids the same age from the same neighborhood.
• They need more time to learn life skills. They are spending the prime hours of their day at school and are worn out by the time I get them back.
• They are amazing people, they don’t need to be institutionalized.
• School is an hour-sucking waste of time. Waiting in lines to use the bathroom, eat lunch, spending recess on a crowded and boundary-limited playground,  waiting for the rowdy kids in class to behave before the lesson can proceed, etc…

The number one reason we’re doing this is BECAUSE WE CAN. Oh, all the things that we want to do are controlled by our government makes my head spin. This would need to be a whole other post though.

Now here’s where it get’s tricky… so many of my good friends and family have their children in public/private/charter schools. I can’t pass the judgement  that we’re making the ‘right’ choice therefore they are making the ‘wrong’ choice because parents make the choices that are right for their family.