Though I realize homeschooling has been around since before I was born, it wasn't exactly very popular or well known when I was growing up. In fact, I first met a kid who was being homeschooled when I was in the eleventh grade. And when a friend of his told me that he was homeschooled, I wondered how in the world he managed to pull that off. I never had heard of any such and wished so much I knew the secret to get to do school at home.
You see, though I was a good student and made great grades, I really did not enjoy going to school. In fact, when I was in the ninth grade, I remember going home and crying to my Mom not to make me go back. I wanted to just quit. I knew it would seem ridiculous for a student in all honors classes who was doing very well to quit but I just did not enjoy going there. And I thought quitting was the only option. Of course, I didn't quit but I always dreaded it.
And now, here I was, a year away from finishing, and I learned that this kid had managed to do his school work at home. It didn't seem fair to me and I had no idea how he was able to do that.
The next year, my twelfth grade year, my mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She had it removed, and all went well, but during that time, I did miss some school days, and had some discussions with our school guidance counselor about the days I would be out and how I could keep up while gone. At that time, I asked her how people homeschool because I would be glad to finish out my year at home. She didn't tell me. Instead, she gave me a speech about it being my senior year and how much I would be missing out on and how many regrets I would have ifI didn't stay. So, I stayed. But honestly, I didn't enjoy my senior year any more than I did the other three years so I'm not sure why she was determined that I would.
And then, after high school, I met my future husband. And not long afterwards, I met his brother and sister-in-law and their two homeschooled children. Now, homeschooling was not just some mystery to me, but I began learning exactly what it was and I immediately knew, this would be the route I would take with my own children. And if my parents had known about homeschooling when I was a kid, I have no doubt that they would have chosen the same route.
So, what are some reasons that I homeschool?
First and foremost, I would say my faith. I wanted to bring my children up in a Christian environment, learning the Word of God, and not being thrust into situations fulls of trials and temptations that I had faced growing up due to being in a public school. I knew that I could not shield them forever, but I also knew that I did not have to send them out before they were well prepared (and what 4 year old is well prepared?).
I also always loved the idea of having my family home and together. Call me crazy, but I enjoy my kids. I didn't want to send them off for over half the day every day, and only be able to enjoy them for a few hours each evening before sending them to bed. I wanted to cherish every moment possible with them because I knew that they would grow up quickly, and one day leave my home. So, having more hours each day to make memories with them was definitely appealing.
I wanted to protect them from bullying and violence. And I didn't know it when I first started, but now I realize there's also a need to protect them from the government and liberal agendas.
Other things I didn't know before homeschooling, that turned out to be great reasons to homeschool include the flexibility. We are able to be flexible with time and schedules, making it work for our family. We are able to be flexible with locations, homeschooling wherever we need to be. And we are able to be flexible with pace, slowing down or speeding up, depending on each child's needs. And these three things are some of the things I cherish most about homeschooling.
And the list goes on of things that I truly love and enjoy about homeschooling.
So, despite those who questioned us when we started this journey, homeschooling has been the best decision we've ever made and one that I would make again and again. It's not without difficult days, but it's worth it all!