My current thoughts on homeschooling

The reason I say my "current" thoughts is simply because my thoughts on the subject have changed over time, hopefully for the better ;-) More than likely they will change again.

This year marks our 5th year of homeschooling (I can hardly believe that!!) and it has been an interesting ride to say the least. It has not always been easy and in many ways it has been a love-hate relationship!

Over the years I have done so much stressing over this entire subject, too much stressing! I think I may have lost 3.2 years off my life with all the stressing I have done about schooling. Are we doing the right thing? Are the kids learning enough? Are they getting a balanced amount of attention? Are we meeting their needs? Are we using the right curriculum?
These questions and countless others would keep me awake for hours on end.
 My biggest concern of all is that we would somehow manage to make incredibly stupid children. Luckily I have met countless stupid adults who have been educated
in a variety of ways easing this fear quite a bit ;-)

While I don't feel like we have arrived by any means, I do find that I spend far less time worrying about these things now. I have also found that as I have worried less, the entire home school journey has become more pleasant.
I think when I stopped pushing so hard and started searching for more life lessons we all became more relaxed.
My current feeling on home-education is that the home is the most natural environment for a child to learn. It happens all the time, even if we aren't "schooling". I am also at a point where I feel more comfortable venturing away from boxed styled curriculums and trust that our family (when depending on the help of the Holy Spirit) is quite capable of gathering the right materials to insure our children get a well-balanced education.

Right now our family has a strong focus on reading. I would say that 75% of our schooling is done through reading. The kids have grown to be genuine book lovers and it isn't unusual for them to finish a chapter book in 1 or 2 days now. This makes me very happy! So much can be learned through simply reading good books. It amazes me how much they repeat from things they have learned through reading.

In the coming school year we are excited to move towards more of a family schooling model. Where we do read-alouds together, copy verses together and any do hands on projects together. The kids will work at their grade level for math and English.
In many ways homeschooling has been a joy.
 I am not saying we have not cried our bucket of tears on the hard days -
we have those days too, trust me!


 Still though I like the results I am seeing more and more and I wanted to be sure and note some of the reasons why we like homeschooling and why it's the right choice for us.
Here goes my list. I would love to see your list too.

• I like my kids! I can't imagine not having them around for the bulk of their young life.

• I would never want my children's main influence in thinking to come from other children (or another adult).
• We feel strongly that God has called us to this and we want nothing more than to obey Him.
• I want to see all of their "firsts". The first time they put sounds together, read a book, write their names. I want to be a part of that.
• I don't want to be concerned about negative habits my kids might be picking up at school.
• I don't want my kids to be "busy" with school for more than 40 hours a week. "Jobs" are for grown-ups. I want my kids to be kids for the time that they can.
• I want my children to be surrounded with people who love to learn and will encourage them to love learning. Most kids have a "get done quick" mentality and see school as a drag. I don't want that attitude around my kids.

• My children are able to use their free time in creative ways and not have 8+ hours of their day "structured" for them.
• I want to have mentally engaging conversations with my kids. Since they are home we have the opportunity for this to happen.
• We want lots of time for reading. When you're in school and busy "learning" headed from this class to that class, waiting for the teacher to get 30 students settled down there is a lot of wasted time.
• I want my children to be able to choose their friends, not end up with whatever kids are in their class.
• I don't want my kids limited to children who are the same age as them. I want them to be surrounded by variety. When they are with children younger than them this nurtures leadership skills, and when they are friends with children older than them they are able to learn.
• I want my children to be well prepared for life and this includes them being future parents. Spending time with their siblings is a great training school for this.

• If my children are weak in areas I want them to be able to move at their own pace without adopting a label like "slow" or "behind".
• If they are ahead I don't want them being limited to the grade level they "should" be learning at. I want them free to move ahead.
• They have extra hours for a part time job. Elijah is teaching English this year and learning things he could never get from a test.
• If something isn't working for them or they aren't learning anything I want the freedom to toss it and find what works best.
• They are able to go to work with their dad when he can take them.
• My little kids have learned SO much from having their older siblings around!!!
• We can take a field trip any old time we want.

• They can be involved in creating their schooling plan. Elijah came up with the idea of gathering pen pals from all 50 states. He is learning geography and letter writing skills in a fun way that he thought of.
• Homeschooling allows for all sorts of fun projects. We like to make videos.

• I like that my kids don't have oodles of homework each night.
• I like the encouraging statistics I see about homeschooling! It works!

http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/rudner1999/Rudner2.asp

• We can choose our schedule.
• We can move to China in March and don't have to drop out of school ;-)

Bottom line, it isn't always easy but we are finding great satisfaction in our choice to homeschool. We are so thankful for those who have encouraged us along the way. You were right!