1. I get to spend the day with them every day – what a privilege.
2. I get to witness first hand how they grasp a new concept, learn to read or watch the excitement on their faces when they have learnt something new
3. 5 o’clock, 6 o’clock and sometimes 7 o’clock wake ups are only for special events or occasions
4. We sit down together as a family for breakfast, lunch and supper.
5. My children get to work at a pace that suits them, not based on the average of a class
6. We get to learn by seeing, doing and investigating – learning through life
7. Textbooks are a resource – not the focus
8. Their subjects are not limited to the National Curriculum, they can focus on a lot more subjects that interest them.
9. I can slow things down when they struggle, and speed things up when they understand.
10. No homework!
11. And because there is no homework, we have time to spend enjoying our afternoons together.
12. We learn together, I don’t just talk and they have to listen but we engage in meaningful conversations about subjects.
13. No day is the same
14. Life is less hectic
15. NO LUNCHBOXES!
16. Friends are not just according to class or age group but extend from really young to very old. They learn to interact comfortably with anyone.
17. Colourful bright books, that are alive and interesting, no 50 year old textbooks!
18. Special days and celebrations can be enjoyed
19. Flexible terms, school days and working hours
20. Family holidays during off peak season when the price is just right.
21. I can easily see when they don’t grasp a subject and take corrective measures straight away, rather than waiting until an exam, a report or a call from the teacher.
22. Learning opportunities and experiences are not limited to “school hours” but life becomes school.
23. I don’t miss out on their lives, I am part of it every step of the way
24. A healthier learning environment – less distractions and unnecessary waste of time
You can read the rest of the list at Mouthful of Mothering blog
Those are all great! I understand your contention with #17, but you should clarify. Some of the older, classics written 50 or 75 years ago are some of the best books ever written, while some of the latest stuff to come down the pike is pitiful, in more ways than one.
One point you could add is that, unlike public school teachers, you have the right to discipline your child as you see fit when he/she misbehaves. I think about kids being gone for 6 or more hours a day at the public schools; who spanks them when they need it? Nobody. Then, when they become adults, they will be spoiled rotten, undisciplined, and insubordinate and disrespectful to their authorities.
I stumbled upon your blog thru a share on facebook. I homeschool, too, and agree w/all your reasons! If I had one other reason, though, is that our boys are starting to get older and are asking harder faith questions. I get the chance to have worship w/them every morning and they have access to me all day for when those hard questions come up. Knowing that we are the ones sharing our faith and helping them on their spiritual journeys is a HUGE reason why we chose to homeschool. 🙂
@Anonymous
I agree, I am referring to the text books which are like newspaper print and are just dry and unintereting. I have found incredible material which is no where near recent and it has truly brought life to learning!
I homeschool so my children aren't subject to liberal bias and social engineering. Instead, my kids actually learn academics!
I homeschool so my children aren't subject to liberal bias and social engineering. Instead, my kids actually learn academics!
I would love to see more posts and input on this subject. I have been battling within about homeschooling all year. My oldest is in kindergarten this year and all year I see things that make me lean more and more towards homeschooling. I think my biggest con for it is my daughter is SUCH a social butterfly and I'm afraid taking her out would be a disservice to her….????
I was homeschooled and definitely plan on homeschooling my own children. I understand why you would feel that it could be a disservice to remove her from school but there are some other things to consider. There are so many resources for homeschoolers now, so many available outlets for meeting other children and making friends. You would most likely find that the children your daughter would encounter in a homeschool situation would be much more likely to have been reared by parents who are like minded to you. The things kids are being exposed to in school these days quite frankly horrify me, I want the ability to introduce my children to the more challenging areas of life when I feel they are ready and I want to be able to instill values that will enable them to handle these challenges with wisdom and grace. I do not want my child learning things I don't feel she's ready for from classmates whose parents have allowed the TV to babysit them and have exposed them to all manner of poor behaviors. My sister and I had many friends and were always busy and involved in many activities. I am so very glad that my parents made the decision to homeschool us, I know we learned so many valuable lessons some that had nothing to do with academics per se and everything to do with life. Your social butterfly will not fade in a homeschool setting, she would thrive, one of the greatest things homeschoolers learn is how to approach people and seek out friendships, how to choose your friends instead of having them chosen for you by your seating chart or the "clique" you fall into. Good luck with your decision! 🙂
THank you for such a motivating article. I home schooled my son for 12 weeks during a term after we discovered he was being bullied. The 3 months was spent building him up and bringing God deeper into his world. After the 12 weeks he asked to go back to a new school and we found one we all liked. We didnt have alot off access to toher HS families and he missed the social side of school alot. He has been there for 18 months however the levels off bullying and violence have grown & although he is not being bullied, His freinds are bullying others and he is witnessing it which makes him feel unsafe.
My husband and I would dearly love to HS both our kids, 10 & 6 yet I haven't returned to work since I had the youngest and my husband works long hours for an average pay so It's just me here.
You article inspired me & i thank you as we have been praying for God's guidance and I woke this morning to find this. Blessings to all of you and your families xoxox
I started homeschooling my oldest in 3rd grade due to bullying as well…but by the teacher. My youngest has never been to a "traditional" school. The older is now a Senior in college, the younger a Junior in HS. And I wouldn't change a thing. I see other friends struggle with their teenagers (like my mom struggled with me) and I'm so grateful for God's not-so-gentle prodding. My girls are grounded in their faith in the Lord and in the way they view themselves because they've never had to "act" a certain way to be accepted. They have the most incredible friends…because they chose friends like themselves. Dating is a non-issue because they're waiting. And they know what to look for in a man because their father has modeled a gentlemanly attitude towards women. We are not perfect by a longshot, we have our struggles, but we have a foundation that can't be beat. If you're struggling with the idea of homeschooling, I encourage you to pray about it. Think about what life could be like when your child is 15 in public school surrounded by their "peers"…or 15 surrounded by their family.
Couldn't have said it better myself, thank you so much for sharing this! As we are going into our 2nd year homeschooling, I will say that I have already seen wonderful changes in our children. Where my middle school daughter was focused on the latest fads, like Justin Bieber and anything Disney, she now has no desire for and instead keeps her mind clean by reading God's word and focusing on HIM. The Lord is still working on all of us daily, and His grace is keeping us moving forward on this life journey. God bless you and all of your readers…..and be encouraged! If God has commissioned us to homeschooling, HE will provide the necessary resources!
No uniforms.
No gross school lunches.
I know first hand what they are learning.
No school supplies lists…I get what I think they need.
PJ school.
Car school.
GRACE!
I do not home school my children , but I am not here to denouce it or anything like that. I do have a question and it is one I have asked a few times before when homeschooling comes up: A lot of the reasons listed for homeschooling is ability to teach your child things your own way and see them as they learn, but my children (age 7 and 9 currently) go to school and I spent a lot of time teaching them beyond what school teaches or improving understanding. My question is : What in attending school prevents you from giving your child a rounder education? learning does not stop when they go home every day. I would also like to address the idea that school indoctrinates them to liberal bias. I have seen and experienced this when my daughters told me that all alcohol was poison and bad and I should stop drinking the occasional beer. and having them brow beat me about recycling. BUT it was not hard to temper what they learned and explain to them about responsibility and what alcohol actually is for them to understand. And for recycling they are actually right so its hard to fault them for that one. I look forward to a conversation that perhaps I can gain some insight from.
I don't home school – have never home schooled – but was a long-time home school facilitator for my local school board. I, as a teacher with a B. Ed., worked with families to assist them in creating and delivering the very best possible program of studies to their children, no matter what approach they chose to take to get to the end goal of a well-educated 18-year-old.
In my work with families, I met some unbelievably amazing ones whose children got an undeniably stellar education: in such cases the home schooling parent(s) had an innate sense of how to "convey"… and how to help their children learn HOW to learn. It was inspiring. But it didn't happen too often.
What DID happen – often – was that the children of home schoolers would present with an extremely limited range of capabilities and experiences when compared to their day schooled peers. I saw many cases of significant failure on the part of families who did NOT understand how to help their children succeed, and could not seem to grasp how to truly "educate." I saw children literally YEARS behind their peers, with a very slim chance of ever catching up.
One example of this that I saw time and again was families who believed that teaching grammar and spelling skills equated to teaching the language arts. The children of these families, some already in high school, had had profoundly inadequate practice in writing anything meaningful (anything outside of the parameters of a worksheet). They had had profoundly inadequate practice at interpreting a piece of literature. These students, at least in my school district, would not stand a chance of passing the provincial exam required to graduate Grade 12; at 17 or 18 years old, they would have a very hard time going back and gaining the scaffolded skills that they should have started building when they were 5 or 6.
Your list – to me, it gives a false sense of the wonder and beauty that is home schooling. As with anything else, doing it, and doing it competently, are two different animals. Yes – there are some very compelling reasons to homeschool. But anyone considering doing it needs to get past ideas like the ones from your list like, "Learning under blankets on cold days, while sipping hot chocolate" and think long and hard about the realities of what you are providing for your child.
The reason from your list that made me really cringe was number 26: "I get a chance to learn subjects or concepts that I never learnt or heard about." I wonder how you would feel if your child's day school teacher told you he was SO excited to school your child because it would give him a chance to learn what he was teaching. I don't imagine it would be acceptable in that context – where he is the teacher. But in home schooling, where YOU are the teacher, it's okay to be teaching on a subject where you have limited knowledge?
I wonder if maybe we should consider just NOT training teachers. It sounds from your list as though a chimp could do it.
Wonderful if you can do it. Many of us have to work to keep a roof over our children's heads and feed them. What DOES bother me us how some who homeschoolact as if those who can't are terrible parents.
I also plan to homeschool one day! I went to a bible college and got a degree in education so I could be equipped to homeschool my kids! What a privilege and an opportunity! 🙂
@K.C.
What does happen – often – is that the children of U.S. day schoolers (specifically public day schoolers) would present an extremely limited range of capabilities and experiences when compared to their international day schooled peers. I see many cases of significant failure on the part of U.S. educators who, in spite of their education, do NOT understand, or care, about how to help their students succeed, and could not seem to grasp how to truly "educate." Any why should they? They are tenured and do not get any meaningful reprimands to do better. I see children, especially in the inner city, literally YEARS behind their international peers, with a very slim chance of ever catching up…I wonder if maybe we should consider just NOT training teachers but training parents instead since they are the ones who seem to have a vested interested in THEIR child's education.
I have 4 & 5 year olds. They are now in preschool, but I have been considering home schooling them. My fear of what they will learn in public schools is one of the main reasons driving me to consider it. The main reason I don't do it now is fear that I will not be able to teach them properly. How does a mother know if SHE is equipped for home schooling? I love my children more than my own life and would do anything for them, but I don't feel like I am teacher material. How do you get connected with support and other home schooling parents? Lastly, all mothers need a break from time to time to recharge. I do this while they're in school. How do home schoolers do this- especially if their husbands work all the time and are unavailable to help?
@ Shelly- Very well said! When my daughter was in the 5th grade, she had an awful teacher. When a student would ask for help, he would tell them to go figure it out. This affected her primarily in math, as she did not understand a concept that he "taught". Because of this man, she not only refused to ask any other teacher for help, but graduated high school not understanding some concepts in math and would not have passed the "WASL" test, which became a requirement the year after she graduated. She was in her second year of college when she excitedly told me one day, "Mom! I finally understand it!" Fortunately, she had a friend who tutored her and she finally understood something that she should have been taught in 5th grade! Not only did I fail her because I did not realize how serious it was, but the public school system failed her. the other parents of those students in her class also realized what he was doing, but not until Spring of that year. By then, the damage was done and the school "reprimanded" him by assigning him to the Media Center for a few years.
I'm a 5th grade teacher at a private school, and I think homeschooling can be the best option for SOME families. I have had students enter my class during the middle of the year because the public school wasn't working for them so the parents tried to home school. The students just got further behind, and the parents got frustrated. Your reasons to home school are great, but let's remember that there also are great reasons to send children to school. It takes a lot of time and knowledge being a full time mom AND teacher to your children. Every parent must weigh the options and make the decision whether or not to home school for reasons that include far more than this feel good list.
Two reasons not to homeschool: "learnt" and "Maths".
@Ilearntmymaths If you had been homeschooled, you would likely have known that these two words are British English variants.
You are correct that many people don't teach their children properly, but the facts are that homeschooled children are generally smarter and do better a adults. Most homeschoolers excel at reading, spelling, and writing mostly due to extensive reading. You're absolutely right that it isn't all flowers and sunshine, but if you're determined to do a good job your child will be far more intelligent then his peers. Your comment has grammatical errors in it too, by the way. 😉
I homeschooled both of my children AND worked full time nights as an RN. While this is not an option for everyone due to their careers, it worked for us. I pulled my son out of private school. He attended pre-K, Kindergarten, and about five weeks of first grade there, but he was BORED. What is a mother to do when her children begin to get into trouble because they aren't challenged enough? HOMESCHOOL! He was schooled at home through his senior year of high school, despite being given the choice to go back into school to take advantage of extracurricular activities that were offered. He declined. He liked being able to start school at 6:30 in the morning, and finish by noon. He liked attending lab science classes in a garage with other homeschoolers, and doing cool experiments or dissecting things. He enjoyed the variety of art classes with different media types. He was absolutely thrilled with his speech and debate teacher, and the competitions they participated in. And the sports activities and field trips were phenomenal. He is now 23, married, and is a chef at a high end restaurant on the coast in Southern California. My daughter, who was a classic ADHD kid, never attended school as a child, but was homeschooled from the beginning. She was not a particularly good student, but she was very bright. Math was always a struggle for her, so she required a tutor who knew how to communicate algebraic principles to her. When she graduated, she attended a local junior college for a year, and received straight A's. Now she is in cosmetology school, also scoring straight A's, has perfect attendance, and is one of three students in her class who qualified for an Externship. Your kids learn more than just academic things when you homeschool. They develop character, integrity, and a vision for their future. My daughter is engaged, and will marry once she and her fiancé both graduate and settle in to their careers. Life is good, and neither of them have any regrets that they were homeschooled. Both say they will homeschool their own children as well.
Anonymous–Please let me know where the grammatical errors are. All I found was a split infinitive.