I think it depends on my day...the reasons why. They vary. I for one feel that I can give my children a better education than public schools. I can't afford private and even if I could I still don't think they could give my children what I can. I like the idea of them actually learning at their own speed. I like the one on one time they will get at home. I like the fact that I can teach in pj's. I just have so many reasons that are good and so many that are vain like the pj's. I also can teach creation to my children the way they need to learn it. My kids can pray in school...we can be free to take class outside. Freedom....I could go on and on but won't
Because it's what I know. My reasons for homeschooling when I first started were many and varied but now it's just that it's what we do and I can't imagine anything different or better.
I am too lazy to type up my long winded normal response but the short version is my kids have special needs, public schol was failing them big time, I refuse to let them fall through the cracks, so now they homeschool. my youngest 2 will hs because I have now seen how amazing it is to meet the all the needs of the child, academic and emotional.
This is always a tough one to answer because it is hard to know where to begin. I think the ps system is flawed and failing in many ways. I think there is and will continue to be too much of a secular humanist influence in the ps system and I want to limit that as much as possible. I like tailor making my children's education to thier needs and interests. I love seeing them learn and grow and really getting to know them. I love afternoons of taking the day off and playing board games. I love that my kids have a strong relationship with their 2 year old sister that otherwise they would only see a few hours a day. I like making my own schedule. I just made next week the start of a study on the states. That was not planned. However, with the flexibility I have with homeschooling, we can explore together subjects that interest them. No one will be as interested or care as much as me or their father as to what their educational needs are. Well, that is enough for now. lol.
First, we believe this is what God wants for our family. I am a former PS teacher; my husband is a current PS teacher. We know what's going on in the schools. I've got two dss'. One graduated from public school, one from Christian school. Looking back on it, that was a mistake. We should have pulled them and homeschooled them, but decided it would have been too big a fight with my in-laws. There really is a godlessness in the schools. Disrespect is tolerated, laziness is rewarded. The teachers are often as bad as the students.
Mine are the same as many of you. Who would have guessed LOL. My ds at 5 was diagnosed ADD, and I refused to put him on meds for it. The problem I believe isnt that he's supposedly ADD. I think its that kids arent meant to sit in a classroom for 7 1/2 hours a day. Kids need to wiggle. And he's gifted so he was bored in the classroom. He also has Sensory Integration Disorder. So he has trouble with both gross and fine motor skills. This isnt obvious in him except his handwriting is horrible and he cant run. He's pretty awkward looking when he tries..poor kid. Our schools do "structured recess" (why cant the kids just play and have a rest from schooling!) and he couldnt do the jumping jacks and running that was required. He would come home sobbing because he couldnt run the 2 laps...and this made him late for lunch numerous times....then he couldn't eat. Bringing up these memories make me sad. Theres a lot more of these stories too. So this is why I decided to homeschool. Its a whole new world being home....more time for the family. More learning...and best of all more love. Jackie
I think I could honestly name about a thousand reasons, but for the sake of my hands I will just say what most of my reason boil down to - I LOVE BEING WITH MY KIDS. I've become very passionate about hsing and its a part of our lives now.
So many reasons... -Our local public schools are awful...in so many ways! -We tried private school for 3 1/2 years and found that at the end of the day, it was just a more expensive version of public school. -I love the closeness that's developing within our family. My boys are four years apart and have never been as close to each other as they are now. It's fun to watch! -My kids no longer fall through any cracks. I can fix the things that the school didn't teach Zach well. We can take as long as we need to learn it, and he goes at his pace. -No more damaging comparisons to other children. -My kids have time to run and play and be kids! -NO MORE HOMEWORK!!! -It's the best decision we ever made!
At first, it was because one year of ps killed my dd's desire to learn. She finished Kindergarten convinced being smart was a bad thing, people will not be your friend if you know anything they don't know, refused to admit she knew anything (I got very tired of hearing "I don't know" & "I forgot"), didn't want to learn anything new, and even though she had been reading before K, wouldn't pick up a book. In just that one year ps had failed her. She was physically assulted on a regular basis by her classmates, and came home crying more times than not. The school did nothing about this. Now, I'd say it's because I can do better than the ps. Both my kids have special needs, and I can work with them not against against them. I can allow them to work at their own pace, tailor what we study to them, plan out schedule according to what works best for them, etc. The system has major flaws. I'm not saying that I have all the answers or that my way of doing things is perfect, but my way is flexible and can be changed easily when it isn't working. Plus, I can offer my kids the time & freedom they'd never get in ps. I can make sure they aren't taught theories as facts, and they don't spend their time having dates, names, and facts crammed into their heads. They're learning how to learn for & by themselves, not just how to memorize what other people tell them is the truth.
I believe my Lord led me to homeschool using the gifts He gave me and the desires He had place in my heart, so that to not homeschool my daughter was contrary to the Spirit within my being. All that I see as the many benefits of homeschooling--a very long list!--are the blessings He provided. Happy Thanksgiving!
I second everything the other ladies said. I love being with my kids and can't trust public school teacher or the kids' peers with forming their morale
Although we have hundreds of reasons, when asked by friends or strangers why we homeschool, our quick, one-word answer is FLEXIBILITY. Flexibility in designing a unique curriculum for each child, flexibility in deciding how our time is spent, flexibility in choosing volunteer work, flexibility in spending time with relatives.... The list can go on forever, but they get the idea. Carol
I started homeschooling because my dd was failing, or I should say the school was failing her. I always thought about hsing, but never thought I'd get the nerve to actually do it; I was kind of pushed into it and am glad that I was! Then I took my son out too, and now we just love it. I don't know how long I'm going to do it for. I can't see myself teaching chemestry or physics, so we'll see.
However, in case you're interested, there's SOOOOOO much available for homeschooling these days! They have programs that are on dvd that cover all the steps, everything they need to know. They can go over and over and over those dvd's until they get it, then they can move on! It's great! If you were choosing NOT to homeschool, just because of that, then I'm just saying this so you know it CAN be done! If you choose to send them to school for some other reason, then that's great, a choice you made for the best of your family!
The way I see it, I am not the teacher as God has that place in my home, I am just another learner with a bit more experience than the child. Subjects that I cannot teach are subjects I can learn along with my child while guiding the child with my experience in using the tools for learning.
i agree - and even at the younger levels, this can be true...dd(10) is working in apologia's astronomy book (elementary level) and we're both learning together because i never had much interest in astronomy ( i do now though!), never took any classes in it, etc etc etc, so there is plenty even at this level in this subject that i don't/didn't know... we're learning together --- and having a great time doing it. :mrgreen:
We first decided to homeschool so that DS5 wouldn't be a whole year behind in school because he missed an arbitrary birthday cut off by 13 days. We didn't want him to deal with his brother, who is younger by 2 years, being only a year behind him. And we didn't want him graduating from high school at 19. At first we thought we'd HS for a few years, until the PS would let us transfer him in at his level, not based on age. DH absolutely did NOT want him HS'd in high school. In just a few months of reading, observing, and learning together I discovered that I had no desire to ever send him away to be "educated" (and I do use that term loosely) by a stranger who barely cared, if at all. And in that time DH has decided that he wants to keep them home until graduation, as well. Why? Well, for all the reasons you ladies have already listed. I just feel there are more opportunities for healthy, happy learning at home (or the library, or the grocery store, or Royal Rangers, or the bank.....).
