FAITH, FAMILY, FREEDOM

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Do you want to be a joyful momma, grateful homemaker, and diligent teacher to your children -but most days you’re feeling stuck and frustrated? I get it, I’ve been there and what helps me through these morose times is to revisit why we homeschool.

No matter where you are on your homeschool journey, your why matters. After doing my own research into this many years ago and now going on 3 years as a homeschool momma to three boys I know our why. I can’t speak for others but I can speak for my family and why we choose homeschool now and forever -the Lord willing. And knowing our why helps me be a joyful momma, grateful homemaker, and diligent teacher.

Brainstorm and gather ideas.

There are many varying reasons to choose to homeschool. You should take time, maybe with a cup of coffee in hand, to think about why your family wants to do this crazy thing called homeschool, and write your reasons down. And I mean write them all down, turn this into a brainstorming session! Go beyond that initial event that caused you to consider homeschooling and make sure that you’ve explored all the why’s. Because if you don’t your initial why may not be relevant in a couple years or seem like a good enough reason on hard days.

Basically, come up with a list of reasons by brainstorming and researching. During your research, determine which reasons are relevant to you and yours. Consider my family’s reasons below but see what other homeschoolers have to say too so that you can gather more reasons why so many families choose to homeschool. 

The initial reason why is important but it may not be enough.

You can probably determine one definite reason why you’ve decided to choose to homeschool. This reason is usually the one that made you consider homeschooling in the first place. Ours occurred when I was teaching and well before I knew if I even wanted kids.

The local military base‘s kids were fed into the high school I was teaching at. I frequently saw military brats come in mid semester and be placed in the wrong class level for their aptitude. My fiancé was serving in the military at the time and I knew that I didn’t want this upheaval and indetermination for my children’s education every time we moved. Luckily, my fiancé agreed.

Our initial reason no longer applies to our family.

Fast-forward to today and my husband and I know that we won’t be moving anymore. Not that it isn’t an option but it won’t be for the military, or every couple years. By other’s viewpoints we have no reason to continue to homeschool. But that’s where they’re wrong, we have many more reasons now.

I hope my family’s reasons will help you narrow down your why. Because, trust me, on hard days it’s the only thing that keeps me from calling our local school district and letting them know to expect an addition to their 1st grade, kindergarten, and pre-k classes on the morrow! It also keeps me grounded during the chaos, mess, and fights that wouldn’t be as frequent if the kids were at school all day.

Why we choose to homeschool.

During my brainstorming session, I quickly came to the realization that all the reasons I had written down fell under three categories. Faith, family, and freedom. I go into finer details below for each of these.

Faith is why we choose to homeschool.

My husband and I want to pass down not only a love for the Lord but a knowledge of Him as well. Schools separate church and state which leaves a gap in a child’s education of history. Whether you believe the Bible or not it is still ancient history and there are many undeniable facts as to why the stories in the Bible are true and not simply myths. 

I grew up in the church. My family rarely missed church on Sundays, my parents were involved in the church, and we always prayed before meals. I was raised to fear, trust, and love the Lord but I always knew I lacked an understanding for how the Bible fit in with secular history. I know that by teaching history to our sons in homeschool I can make sure that they have a full understanding of how ancient historical events and people played out on the timeline. 

Seamlessly weave God into our daily habits.

I understand that history lessons are a very specific reason and something that we could remedy by teaching at home outside of normal school. But providing remediation after 8 hours sitting in classes sounds horrible for my sons. Also, those 8 hours in school I know never include singing hymns, saying prayers, and receiving behavioral corrections that are biblically rooted. Simply put, God is more easily woven into our studies and daily habits since we choose to homeschool.

Family is why we choose to homeschool.

We have more time together.

The math isn’t hard to quickly see that by homeschooling we get more time with our kiddos. A lot more time. But why would we want more time with them? I mean they wreck the house, fray every last nerve, and in general create havoc. At least my boys do. Why on earth wouldn’t I want to send them to school and experience a daily reprieve?

Because all too soon these days will be gone. Without becoming too emotional here I’ll just say that I don’t know where the last 7 years went with my eldest. But what I do know is that we did it together. And the next 11 years will be done together too. 

We keep family at the center.

It’s no secret that as a child matures their social development changes. When a child is young they are very focused on family. Then it becomes about friends and lastly their focus turns towards the world. 

By all means I want my children’s social development to mature. However, not as rapidly as it does when they go to school. And even as they develop, family should still be at the center. The best way my husband and I can devise to do this is by having more time together. Instead of sending our kiddos to be with strangers the majority of their day, we can better model this philosophy by being together as a family for the better part of our days, weeks, months, and years.

Sibling friendships.

I also can’t deny the fact that by homeschooling we’re cultivating friendships among brothers. Yes there are the frequent squabbles, flailing limbs, and torrents of tears. But when I notice my oldest son reading a book to one of his younger brothers my heart melts. Or I see one, then another, and then another go sprinting past the dining room window because they’re all charging the castle (their play fort). I know that these memories are more important than the fickle friendships that come and go in primary school. 

Freedom is why we choose to homeschool.

Freedom to go at our own pace.

It’s no secret that schools are not equipped to challenge or slow down for individual students. Since we choose to homeschool, my kiddos are able to go at their own pace in each individual topic. My eldest has the attention for stories and so his reading level is at an 8th grade level. On the other hand, we’re slogging through his math. His attention span for equations just isn’t there yet and that’s fine by me. Based on personal experience it won’t take him long to learn the math he needs once he’s ready.

Also, when my boys are young I want them to be outside playing rough and getting muddy. By sending them to school I would deprive them of their natural instinct to be wild and free. If you have boys and are considering homeschool I urge you to read the book, The War Against Boys by Christina Hoff Sommers. This has even more reasons why boys need homeschool over traditional school.

Freedom to pursue interests.

Imagine what you would have done with 6 hours every day when you were a kid, if you hadn’t had to be in school. Well that’s essentially what many families give their kiddos when they choose to homeschool. Don’t get me wrong, some aren’t only doing lessons for a couple hours every day. When my kiddos are older we will probably dedicate 4 hours a day to lessons. But can you imagine the other 4 hours and what can be done in that time? That’s 20 hours a week!

By giving them this time they may discover a passion for woodworking and decide to pursue a job in carpentry. Or they find that cooking is their favorite thing to do so they pursue culinary school. Maybe they love volunteering at the retirement home and know they want to work with senior citizens. With this kind of freedom the possibilities are endless.

Freedom for flexible schedules.

This is a big one for our family but it may not be exactly what you may think. Yes, we’re able to pack up in the middle of the week, travel a few states away, and see an eclipse that only occurs once every 30 years. But this is actually a small reason for why we choose to homeschool. The freedom that homeschooling offers to attend a big event like this is fantastic and I certainly love never having to notify anyone that my kiddos won’t be in school because we’re taking a family vacation.

But ultimately homeschooling allows us to see family. Military has taken us 14+ hours driving distance away from grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins so when they do visit they stay 5-7 days. The last thing I want to do is send my kiddos to school all day while they’re here. 

Revisit your why.

At the beginning of every year I like to revisit our why with my husband. By doing this we guarantee our choices are still in line with our priorities. And I am able to remember all the little reasons we homeschool. When necessary I pick up a book or two to read as well. The post, 18 Books for Homeschooling Moms, dives into the best books about homeschooling and motherhood.

Choose to homeschool.

No matter where you are on your homeschooling journey I hope this has been a blessing to you. I encourage you to write down your family’s why and use it to help you through hard days. I know that when we choose to homeschool we are preserving faith, family, and freedom for our boy’s childhoods. That is what keeps me a joyful momma, grateful homemaker, and diligent teacher.