As we explore this important subject I realize that these may not necessarily be the top 10 reasons to homeschool, but they are none the less, 10 great reasons why you should consider it a viable option for educating your child. One of the main reasons is that you can be in full control. Basically you are the captain of the ship, so you call the shots and decide what course of action to take. Once you have mapped out your course you can set sail on your magnificent homeschool journey. If truth be told the reasons to homeschool are different for each family and could easily number into the hundreds or thousands. Though the reasons are numerous and vastly different there are ten reasons that seem to speak louder than the rest.
The reasons listed below are not my top ten reasons but rather the reasons given by others who have embarked on this homeschool journey. It is their voices that ring out the loudest as they share why they homeschool. The common theme among all of the reasons shows just how passionate each of these homeschool moms are when it comes to educating their children. Some of the answers are amusing and some very sober. Without further ado here are those ten reasons.
1. “I want to be the one that sees my child’s eyes light up when they experience those “aha” moments. I want to participate, encourage and share in the experience. I don’t want to hear about it second hand. I can’t miss these moments. I am selfish that way.”
2. I don’t want my kid standing in line most of the day. We visited a lot of different schools before deciding that using home school curriculum was a better option for us. Of the schools we visited they all had one thing in common. Everywhere I looked, I saw seemingly endless lines of children. They were standing in line waiting for their teacher to pick them up from one class and escort them to another. They were waiting in the lunch line. They stood in line to go to the bathroom. I began to wonder, ‘How much time a day do they spend standing in lines?’ I also heard the hauntingly familiar “We’re not moving until everyone in this line is quiet and is standing perfectly still!’ and I instantly thought back to my own school experience. I hated standing in line; I didn't’t want my kids having to do that all day long!
3. “I’ve been a teacher for a long time. I am quite familiar with how the school system operates. I know that it requires an act of God to get curriculum materials changed if something is not working the way it should. I want the authority to say, ‘You know, this is not working for you, is it? Let’s try a different home schooling curriculum instead’ and not wait until failure upon failure shows that this was not the best way to go. If I see that something is not clicking with my homeschooled children, I have the ability to go take another course of action. That is important to me.”
4. “Nobody indoctrinates my children, but ME.”
5. “I want my children to grow up, play and learn together. I want the ideal environment so our family does not have to be apart for most of the day, 5 days a week, and 9 months out of the year. Our choice to homeschool allows my children to grow up together. That’s important to me as a mom.”
6. “I want to answer my child’s questions about life and about the world. I want to know their thoughts, their concerns, and their dreams. My children are my greatest asset and I want to enjoy the time I have to spend with them.”
7. “I want to be aware of what is being taught to my child, the angle from which they are being taught and I don’t want to feel like I have to apologize for undo things that they learned in public school. Children spend 14,000 hours in their seat. FOURTEEN THOUSAND. How on God’s green earth can I really be involved and know what is being poured into their hearts, minds and precious souls when they’re gone from me and under the influence of hundreds (even thousands) of others? It’s impossible to think that even if I was the president of the PTA or even room mother of the year that I could participate as much as I want to, so instead, I teach them at home.”
8. “We adopted our children. We went halfway around the globe to bring these children to our home. There was something about sending them away for most of their childhood that just didn’t seem right to me.”
9. “The schools here do not meet our standards and private school classes are not financially possible for our family.”
10. “If you saw a pamphlet for a school that claims it offers: ‘Class ratios as low as 1:1, custom education plans that play to the strengths, needs and desires of each child that participate in the program. Frequent field trips to art museums, nature centers, historical sites and state parks. Classroom education based on your core values and that is in line with your family’s world view. A flexible schedule that allows for family cohesiveness.’ Would you jump at the chance to enroll your children there? I know I would and that is exactly what we did. Homeschooling lives up to every one of those claims.”
So there they are. They may not be the top ten but none the less they are ten great reasons to homeschool. Once again your reasons for homeschooling may be different than those listed above, but hopefully they will help you to see that homeschool is a great way to spend time with, share moments and educate your children all at the same time.
Categories: Reasons Why to Home School
