1. To let my kids be kids.
With the explosion of social media, internet access and around-the-clock electronic stimulation, this generation of children has started growing up so much faster. I don't want my kids to still live with me when they're 25; on the contrary, I want them to grow into independent, productive, fully-functioning members of society. However, I don't think my 4-year-old needs to be exposed to the majority of the things marketed to him in this day & age. My kids won't be getting cell phones at 7 or 8 years old. I don't really want them to have their own tablets or computers for a while. I want them to have the freedom to be themselves for as long as possible without any pressure from their peers to look, act, or behave a certain way. If Jackson wants to wear his silly red rainboots for every day for a month... I want him to. If Paisley chooses to run around nakey for the whole day... I want her to. I want them to be secure in themselves and enjoy the little things in life. I want them to look back on their childhood fondly. I want to give my kids the opportunity to make cookies with me at 10:00 am on a weekday, to stay up past their bedtimes occasionally to build a fort in the living room, and to play outside all day on gorgeous days instead of sitting in a classroom full of strangers for 9 hours. If we decide to spend the entire day building a Lego castle, or at the park, or hanging out with grandmas, then I want to have the freedom to do so. This reason quickly leads into reason
2. Kids learn by PLAY
Kids aren't wired to sit still in a classroom and focus for 8 hours a day, especially at the tender age of 5 when our society sends them off to kindergarten. Let's be honest, as an adult, I would have a problem sitting still for 8 hours a day and focusing on what someone is saying. Developmentally, kids need to play. Imaginative play fosters learning. We can explore so many topics and ideas as we play with our kids and we aren't limited by a curriculum or time constraints. Playing together leads to so many deep conversations and interesting ideas from them.
3. Teaching my kids to love learning
I am a firm believer that when children lead the discussion and exploration of topics that they find interesting, they will learn so much more because they WANT to learn. If this week, Jackson is interested in astronauts and the International Space Station (he is... he always is...) then we can discuss geography (which countries are the astronauts from and where are those on the map?), the sciences (the physics of zero gravity, how do they get the rockets to space, you name it!), math (how quickly does the space station orbit the earth? Let's do some calculations!), or history (when did the space station get built? who were the first astronauts aboard?). (Side note: we've explored all those topics this week! Chris Hadfield youtube channel, anyone?) This can apply to pretty much any topic of interest! Yes, we will have to do good old fashioned math worksheets and diagram a few sentences along the way, but because we have the freedom to explore these topics at our own leisure and in our own ways, I'm hoping to foster a love of learning for life. We can spend time at the library (an antiquated notion here in the internet age, I know!), museums, wherever else the day takes us, and my kids can learn where to go to find useful information.
4. The ability to be flexible with my husband's job
My husband has recently taken a job with a more demanding and unpredictable schedule. I love the fact that if he manages to get off work at 2 p.m. on a Thursday because he's already worked 35 or 40 hours that week, we can drop what we are doing and hang out with him. He can come home, play outside with the kids or help us with errands and be part of our every day life. If he ends up working until 8 or 9 p.m., Jackson can stay up later to see his dad because we don't have to get up early the next day usually! We can take family vacations in September or April. The only schedule we have to worry about is Tyler's.
5. Being surrounded by people who love them
This isn't about socialization vs nonsocialization. This is about the fact that when my kids are grown and married and having my grandbabies, I want them to remember their childhood days spent with their grandparents & great grandparents. We see both my parents & Tyler's parents on almost a daily basis. We go visit my grandparents at least weekly. I have awesome memories of spending lots of time with my great-grandparents who passed away when I was 16, because I was homeschooled and was able to spend weekdays at their house. When all else falls away, there is no argument here - family is what matters. This also includes friends that are like family. We love quiet play dates with some of our closest friends, too. I want my kids surrounded by people who support them and love them unconditionally and encourage them instead of bully and tear them down. I realize they will face enough of that when they get older, and yes, they'll have to learn how to deal with that eventually. But not at 4, 5, 6 years old.
6. Learning practical skills
I want my kids to know how to cook, to sew a button on, to do laundry and clean toilets. Both of them. I want them to have a high work ethic, to get a job when they're teenagers and to know what hard work is like. I don't want to shelter them and pamper them and coddle them. I want them to learn valuable life skills from their time spent at home with me (and my husband). Chores, responsibility, grocery shopping and car maintenance - I want both of my children to know how to do these things and do them with excellence. I know many homeschool factions push the girls to be housewives and the boys to be manual laborers. If that's what my kids choose, then great! But as a woman with a master's degree and a career on the side, that's not really how I roll. I just want my kids to be well-rounded and capable adults.
7. It just feels right
No other reason here, just that we feel that this is what God has planned for us during this next season of our lives.
Homeschooling isn't for everyone. It's probably not for every season even in the same family. But I think it works for us, and I'm grateful to live in a state with very lenient homeschooling laws that allows me to guide my children's education as I see fit.
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