Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Why We Homeschool

Often when people (who aren't homeschoolers) talk with me about their child's school, it's with some reference to how nice their particular school is .  That's great.  I'm glad there are so many nice options around.  In fact, the public school our children would attend (if they did attend school) is only two miles away, small, and very sweet.  I'm sure the teachers and most of the students there are lovely.  What I hope people understand is that we don't keep our children home to protect them from the evils lurking at school. We don't keep them home* to avoid something they may get from school (except maybe boredom).  Really. We keep them home because of all the things they can get more of by not being at school.
Such as:


  • Time together.  I really value our family time together, and the time our children have with one another.  I can't  imagine them being in separate classes all day, every day.  I love that they are such good friends to one another and that they aren't separated by age all the time.


Juniper reading to Kale


  • Time to do what they love:  So much time at school is wasted time, spent waiting in line, waiting for all of the students to turn to page 28, waiting for everyone to clean up, etc.  At home there is plenty of time to get our lessons done, and still have time for bike riding, sledding, fort building, tea parties, whittling, and day dreaming.  And often our lessons can be combined with what they love (even better!)


Sledding with friends



  • Lessons planned for their particular learning styles.


Math "stations" 

Acting out a story for ancient history




  • Real socialization, in real social settings, with people of all ages, lifestyles and backgrounds.


Touring our local radio station



  • Freedom to explore topics of interest for as long (or as short) as necessary.  



Wylie's gourd banjo




  • Outside time, whenever we want, exploring and learning from nature. This is huge for me.  I cannot imagine my children staying indoors all day, each day, except for one short recess.  I can hardly believe I did it myself.   

tracking turkeys

 These are just some of the reasons we homeschool.   I realize every family is different, and many families have their own very different reasons.  Also not everyone wants to, or has the opportunity to homeschool. But, this is what works for us, and so far it's a good time.  



* By "at home"  I mean "not at school"--plenty of days we are not at home either!

1 comment:

  1. *This* is exactly why I would want to homeschool. Thanks. Add to that the fact that Kindergarten is 20 miles away, middle school and high school 36 miles.

    But...what about sports or "extracurricular" activities involving other kids?

    ReplyDelete

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