Why Homeschool? {Part One}

When people discover that we have chosen to homeschool our children, they often ask “why” we made that choice for our family.  There are many reasons; some that are more important than others.  I know that I will never touch on all of the reasons that people choose to homeschool, but I will share with you through the coming weeks about most of our “whys” in choosing to homeschool.

“I am able to teach to my child’s interests.”  This is one of the best things about homeschooling, in my opinion.  My child might not be interested in a story about flowers and gardening, but he would love to read a story about dinosaurs and reptiles.  Will he have to learn about flowers and gardening?   Yes, to some extent, but when we want something for “reading,” we can choose the topic most appealing to each child.  We could incorporate dinosaurs into every subject to grab his interest easily.  The regular public school classroom will not be able to cater to each child’s individual interests.

“I am able to schedule our ‘off days’ to coincide with my husband’s ‘off days’ so that we have more time together as a family.  I love the flexibility of scheduling with homeschooling!”  Because we homeschool our children, we are able to go to my husband’s workplace for lunch from time to time.   When my husband wants to use his vacation days, we can take a family vacation, whether it is summer, winter, spring, or fall.  Since I am scheduling their school days, we can take time off when my husband takes time off.  My children are also able to take advantage of time with other family members who live in other states when they come to visit.  If they were in school, they might get to see these family members only after school hours, and then they would have to make sure to get their homework done, and get ready for an early bedtime so that they would be able to get up early for school the next day.  Since I am the one directing their schedule, we can take time off to spend with our family that we do not get to see very often!

This is the first in a four-part series.  In the last post of this series, I will share our most important reason for choosing to homeschool.  I hope that you will check back as the series continues...