As you might remember, we took a little trip recently to a homeschooling convention, where we got jazzed up for school, which will “officially” begin in our family in the fall as Big Mac enters Kindergarten. And we’ve decided to homeschool.
Why in tarnation did we decide to do that? I’m glad you asked! What’s that? You didn’t? Well, this is my blog and I guess I can write about whatever I want. Anyway, here are a few reasons.
For one, it’s our desire.
And it really has almost nothing to do with our beliefs in God. At least not directly. I don’t think. Homeschooling has been something that has been on both my heart and my husband’s since before we even had our first child. And it still is. So, we’re running with it. Why exactly? I wasn’t entirely sure, so I had a lot of fun separating my thoughts and writing about why exactly we have chosen to homeschool our children. Here goes!
We’ve already been homeschooling.
And, if you’re a parent, so have you! It isn’t so much that we want to embark on a completely new endeavor as it is that we just want to prolong the good thing we’ve got going. We educate our children, just by being with them, from the moment they are born. Like it or lump it, we are our children’s teachers. We just plan to make it official. Buy some curriculum. Fit ourselves a little bit into the Kindergarten through twelfth grade mold the world is expecting. Make sure we cover the important things we might miss if we were only just chilling with our kids. Hence the whole choosing a curriculum thing.
We didn’t send the older boys to preschool this year, and some would already consider us a homeschooling family. In our hearts, we have been for as long as we’ve been a family. And, as I said, all children are schooled at home, even if they are also schooled at school. We’ve just made the official decision to run with it.
It fits our unconventional lifestyle.
In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re not exactly the average family in some ways. We love to travel, even at a moment’s notice. My husband and I both have jobs where we work for ourselves and can create our own schedules. We aren’t tied down by pets at home, and sometimes we just up and hit the road. Neither of us follow the norm or do what everyone else is doing just because everyone else is doing it. Like Big Mac, in our own ways, we march to the beat of our own drummers. And don’t we all?
Lots of times, the world doesn’t embrace the ways we are all different and unique, because our society sometimes glamorizes sameness and homogenized things. But we love the diversity that is in the world: religiously, politically, racially, geographically. Likewise, we embrace the things that make our family different from yours. Because they are our quirks. What makes us us is our high energy, laid back attitude, always moving, Bible loving, on the go, outdoorsy, fast paced lifestyle. It fits us. It may not fit our neighbors or the lady who lives on the hill, but it works for us. And homeschool is the perfect partner for our family. I mean, at least we think it will be. Don’t believe in the whole crystal ball thing. We don’t thrive on rigid schedules. Having so many young children makes getting out of the house at a certain time challenging. We’re on the fly, we do what works. So, it just seemed like a flexible setup like homeschooling would mesh perfectly with our lives the way they are right now.
Wasted time makes me cringe.
I’ll admit it. I have a love affair with productivity. I do a lot in my life and partly that’s because I do it fast. I talk fast, I move fast, I type fast, I blog fast. I’ve always gotten great satisfaction out of sitting down to do our bills and giving myself a short time frame in which to do it, conquering the task in the allotted time, and then rewarding myself. Usually by letting myself organize something fun. I’m sick like that. I love using time wisely, getting my work out of the way so I can take the kids to the Children’s Museum or whatever, and so on and so forth. The flip side of this anal retentive character quality of mine is that wasted time makes me cringe. I don’t mind if we’re at a park, lounging in the sun, swinging the day away. That isn’t wasted to me. But packing bags to head somewhere? I like to get that done as quickly as possible. True, I sometimes have to force myself and to enjoy the journey of life, not only the destinations. But the wasted time for children in a traditional school setting just gets to me. It’s the nature of the beast, of course.
There is time waiting for others to sharpen their pencils and find their lunch bags. Down time after math as everyone waits for the rest of the class to finish. Waiting in line for the bathroom. Busy work worksheets just for the sake of something to do. Walking down the hall to lunch. Sitting at the bus stop. Holding your library books while they rest of the class checks out. Sitting in your desk before school begins. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is most certainly value in these tasks. Lining up, waiting your turn, being patient. There is nothing wrong with any of that. However, in all the hours and hours that children are usually at school each day, only a very small portion of them are actually spent directly learning. During that other time, that so called wasted time? We could be with them, doing family things. They could be with their siblings instead of being influenced by their peers, many of whom may not have the same values as our family. There is certainly a time and place for spending lots of time around people with other value beliefs and for learning patience, but I don’t think elementary school is the time for that for our children. And, by the nature of the way schooling many, many children at once is, there is lots of down time at traditional school.
We have boys.
In case you haven’t noticed, we’re a testosterone heavy family. Small Fry and I are the only females at home. And, since I used to be an elementary school teacher, it’s no secret to me that primary schools are largely geared toward female students. It’s through no fault of the teachers, but most of them are women, so they naturally teach to the way they’d like to learn. Girls often thrive in a traditional school setting whereas a boy of equal intelligence level may not, since boys tend to be more active, learn by doingkind of learners. We’re not sure our boys’ learning styles will be met in a regular classroom. Of course, this is not a hard and fast rule by any means. There are boys who do great in elementary school, girls who fall behind and teachers who educate in a very balanced way. But, by and large, primary schools are made for, and by, females. A lot of the teaching is geared towards standardized tests. We are pretty sure that our boys will thrive more in an educational environment that helps them learn in their own style. There are lots of other options out there for this besides just homeschooling, but teaching them at home is sure one way to make certain that our boys can have the opportunity to learn the way they learn best.
We love being with our children.
Our children will be grown and gone soon enough. And I know this, remember? We want to be with them as much as possible while they are young. My husband and I both work, granted at very non conventional jobs, but we’re busy and away from our children in an alternating fashion enough already. When I work on my blog, writing and photography, he’s with our children. When my husband is meeting clients at their home for his business, I’m with our four little ones. It’s a pattern that is working really well for our family now, and, to be honest, we’re just not willing to stick them in school because we would see them even less. They are the reason we became parents. Of course, many parents have to work, must be away from their children, and we are no different. But in whatever ways we are able, we want to be able to raise our children firsthand as much as possible.
Field trip is my middle name.
Going out and learning about life in the real world is a fantastic way to learn. Our children are especially hands on learners. And very active.
Traditional schools see the value in field trips as well; many of them take a few a year. Not to mention, field trips are just plain fun. I used to love field trips when I was in school. And right now, one of my favorite ways to spend time with our children, is by taking them out on little adventures.
Adventures are fun, educational, give us something to do and offer wonderful hands on opportunities. You take field trips with your children, too, I’m sure. The library, the swimming pool, the park. Even places as basic as these give our children opportunities to see the world, learn to follow rules, interact with children their ages, have fun and learn about life. We also love to take nature hikes, have picnics in the woods, go to friends’ houses, go regularly to small group and MOPS and Sunday School where our kids can have relationships with children their ages, walk around at our neighbors’ farm, pick apples, tour the pumpkin patch, climb trees, hunt for bugs and splash at kiddie pools.
Field trip is my middle name already, so I figured homeschooling would be a natural next step! In fact, just today my husband and I got back from an ultra spontaneous (We left the house yesterday within one hour of having the idea to go.) trip up to the middle of our state to explore the Mississippi River close to where it originates.
My husband and I were both born on the Mississippi (Well, not on it. You know. In a hospital in a town on the Mississippi. Random note: He and I were delivered, a year apart, by the very same doctor. We learned that when we had to present copies of our birth certificates when we got married. Crazy.) and we live near it now. Seeing where it begins, how shallow and narrow it is, is something we’ve always wanted to do.
So, we packed the kids up and just did it, enjoying a few other adventures and excursions along the way. It’s this kind of spontaneity and affinity for field trips that make homeschooling a great choice for our family. We have nothing against books; in fact, we think literature is very important. But we also value learning about life in the real world, not only from a book.
Because, really, who doesn’t want to throw rocks into a river and call it school?
I knew we do.
The ratio makes sense.
Before getting married and having children, I taught at a public elementary school for almost six years. It was (probably still is) a fantastic school with caring teachers and lots of awesome programs. If there is one thing I learned while teaching there, though, it was that ratios make a huge difference in learning. When children were behind in reading or learning English as a second language, they were placed in small groups. They even learned reading or worked on behavior issues in one on one settings with an instructor.
Traditional schools see how important the ratio of teachers to students is. But obviously, due to the large number of children needing education and the need to be as productive as possible with time and money, traditional classrooms have lots of students and usually just one teacher. This setup is great for the average student, as teachers are able to go at about their pace. But children who are ahead of the game and those who lag behind simply cannot have their learning needs met as well with just one teacher who is struggling to find a way to teach over 20 children of varying ability levels. Therefore, since we are able, we’d like to give our children a more beneficial ratio, especially since we don’t know if our children are going to be ahead of the curve or behind it.
We’ve got nothing to lose.
Except our sleep and perhaps our sanity, but who’s counting, right?
Homeschooling may not work for our family the way we think it will. In that case, we may choose to stick with it, to decide to make it work because we believe in it. (Kind of like we believe about sticking with a marriage.) Of course, we may also decide to abandon ship. Maybe as our other children grow to be school age, we’ll give them each the schooling scenario that fits their own needs. We have no idea. I mean, seriously, no idea at all. We certainly don’t believe that homeschooling is the only way. But it sure is the way that seems right to us. Right now. And since that is the case, we’re giving it a shot!
Am I scared? Yes! Do I feel equipped? No way. Am I 100% certain that this is right? Nope. Do I have moments of selfishness where I’d just like to send the kids to school during the day so I could have some cotton pickin’ me time? Sure! But then I remember what my real purpose in life is. The following quote by Priscilla Shirer, from her book Discerning the Voice of God, was shared on my blog recently by Diana. It’s beautiful and, as I read it, I realized that it sums up a lot of what I feel about homeschooling. It’s the same thing I feel about life:
Life isn’t about what I’m going to do, but it is instead about what God wants to accomplish in me.
Ms. Shirer says, “When you face two options and each seems to please God, consider the one that displays God’s glory, power and strength. This makes room for God to reveal Himself to you and show Himself through you. God wants us to see the wondrous things He will accomplish in us. Don’t be fearful about the hard road He may ask you to take. Be encouraged and excited about seeing His divine, supernatural activity in and through you. God’s voice commands the option that will display His power. He desires to show Himself strong in you and will encourage you to do things that require trust and faith.”
So, maybe I lied. Perhaps our decision to homeschool really is about our belief in God. Yeah, it’s pretty hard to remove Him from any equation, I guess.
Wish us “luck,” because away we go!!
I´m from Argentina. I just read your article about homeschooling and I agreed you. It´s a big hard work, but after I see the problems of school today, all those work is really necessary. I used to teach a girl with her lessons of writing and reading but it didn´t work, not for me but for her. She acted like a baby, the reason was her mother: some little children when they are very very close to their parents could have learning problems. And that girl had them, her mother work in my house when I was teaching her so she forgot the lessons because she only wanted to stay with her mum and her mother allowed her to do what ever she think. I left her. A time ago the girl started to have problems with her father beause her actitude. I still think that principal problem was too much love and no limits.
I don´t know how you teach your childrens about limits and loving, it´s a personal thing. I used to be a teacher of language and international literature and I have a degree in Social Pedagogy, I work too much in secondary school, university. I could tell you thousands stories of drugs, sexual abuses, kidnapping, pedestrians,etc. It´s the same thing everywhere. No matter if it´s a religious school or not.In public and private institutions always the same. I lived in a dangerous society, our present school is so violent, teachers, parents, students all out of control. In Argentina there always cases like “studen rapes another little student in the bath”, “kindergarden teacher sexual assaults a kid”, ” parents hit a teacher because he/she send their child to summer school”. These makes me an strong believer of home schooling. If I have kid I would prefer to teach by myself at home and I understand well how some parents love this kind of education. Some people say that homeschooling is worse for the kid , that the child must socialize with other kids but I asked in scenary like Argentina how it is possible for a child to socialized with people who comports in that way?
Just found this through my friend Merideth’s blog. We will start “officially” homeschooling this fall. You did a great job of putting into words so many of my own reasons for wanting to homeschool. I’m really nervous about this, so it’s nice to know that I’m not alone. You are a great encouragement, keep up the good work!
You should add, ‘Because we can afford it.’
Your bit about boys reminded me about this book a friend suggested to me. I graduated with a El Ed degree and this book really challenged my educational philosophy. Better Late than Early: A New Approach to Your Child’s Education, by Raymond Moore
THANK YOU for putting these thoughts into understandable paragraphs (and accompanied by incredible photography)… we are homeschooling our 5 yr old this year and was met with unparalleled resistance from many well meaning friends and family members. And I really had no good answer for why we were doing what we were doing… I think it had something to do with many of the thoughts you had, except put on the spot generally over latte with grams, I became a bumbling mute (way to go school teacher mom!)… I hope to follow along with your blog a bit, somehow I found it through my long time friend Charlotte’s blog. Blessings, Becca
Your ratio rationale is inaccurate. The number of students to teachers in a classroom has no bearing on a student’s performance. This is a myth perpetuated by teachers to keep class size small so they have less work. You will not find research that backs up your claim. You will find research that says that large class size perform just as well as small classes. Good luck with your homeschooling.
I find this rather interesting..do you have research for your claim that teachers want class sizes small so they have less work? I doubt it. What a very ignorant comment.
Sad that your view assumes teachers are inherently lazy. I suppose they chose their profession based on the boat loads of money they’d be earning as well? Ask ANY teacher if class size affects their ability to reach each student in their class, and you would be hard-pressed to find even one who would give any credence to the class-size “research”. Every day of every school year, teachers conduct their own research and they know that each additional student in their class divides their attention that many times. Parents know it as well, otherwise why would private schools so proudly tout their small ratios of students to staff? Just my two cents…
and also, http://www.library.ca.gov/crb/clssz/
i was home schooled and it is quite satisfactory when providing basic education-,’
I loved this post!!
However, the only thing that really *got* me was this:
“Do I have moments of selfishness where I’d just like to send the kids to school during the day so I could have some cotton pickin’ me time? Sure! ”
I know that this is not your heart in blanketing all non-hs’ing parents as selfish and just wanting “me” time, however, this does still strike a nerve with me because SO many home-schooling parents DO think that us school-schooling parents are just selfish and not wanting to deal with the responsibility of our childrens’ education. Truth is, my first son is entering grade one and while I’d love nothing better than to teach him at home, God has not released us to do that. It would be more selfish of me *to* keep him at home.
Blessings on you and your family as you begin this new adventure!
Yes, I worded that very poorly and I apologize! For ME I do have a selfish feeling about that aspect…of wanting to send them JUST for my selfish reasons. However, that does not mean I think that other parents who do want to/choose to/have to send their kids to school are selfish. I see how it came across that way, but I didn’t mean for it too. Thanks for being so gracious and understanding with your comment…and thank you for explaining your take!
Thank you for replying to my little *rant*… heh heh… honestly, most of my exposure has been to hs’ing mommas who condescend on those of us who send our kids to public school… and I could tell that this wasn’t your heart, but it still brought up a plethora of emotion for me.
Joshua starts grade one on Monday. I am going to miss him like the dickens. I feel like I’m going to be missing out on his life now… but now I *get* to trust God with the outcomes and pray Joshua through these tender years.
Thanks, mckmama!
Wow! We home school our four and have since pre-K! It is sooooooooo worth it. What I’m “wowwing” at is the quote at the bottom of your article from Priscilla Shirer. I’m facing a change in the way I do things around here and have been struggling with whether or not to try something new, knowing that I can continue on my current path, mostly in my own strength, but to start the “new thing,” I must choose the option that brings glory to my Lord, because it’s only through His strength and enabling that I can do this “next thing.” Thank you! I think you just helped to change our lives here.
I have seriously thought about homeschooling my daughter this year. She is intelligent enough to advance to 2nd grade. We are waiting to get pulled for a lottery in a charter school. And the public school will not start her in 2nd until they can see how she does in 1st. It is not something I am happy about at all as I think it will make her have quite an emotional time. I hope you post some homeschooling ideas or what not so that I can help her. I still am not sure what to do but even if she does go to school at least I can do more for her at home also. Thanks for this post.
Good for you =) I’m schooling my last K student. Can’t believe I have no more toddlers.
EXCELLENT post….well written! For many of the same reasons, WE too have decided to homeschool this September as well. I can’t wait to read your adventures! Good luck!
I homeschool, too and love to find fellow homeschoolers. You have a wonderful family!
i was home schooled too but i would still prefer regular schools.~’-
I’m so glad that you’re posting about your homeschooling journey! My husband was homeschooled and loved it (I went to both public and private schools and also loved them) and we’re planning on homeschooling our children. I will admit that I was a little hesitant to the idea initially, since I loved school so much, but after reading the experiences of others (such as yours), I’m starting to get very excited to embark on the journey. Good luck in your endeavor and please post any helpful tips/suggestions you may come across.
I am so glad I found your blog! I also enjoyed reading your husbands blog the other day. It is so nice to know that there are other families out there that don’t follow the “norm”. My favorite quote, and I don’t know who said it is “Normal is just a setting on a washing machine.” That is my mantra. WE have had people tell us we are crazy because we have seven kids and I home school. And yes we plan on having more. I have people actually get irate with me because they feel it is wrong to keep having children, AND these people are Christians..
I have tried several home school options including a online charter school, and none of them really fit, except Five In A Row. Which I unfortunately discovered AFTER I spent my home school budget this year on a different curriculum. So I have been getting it from the library, returning it for a day, then rechecking it out! LOL.. It takes us about 1/2 an hour a day to go through the lesson, sometimes longer or even less. There are always crafts or fun field trip ideas.. A lady once told me there was no way my children could be learning anything in that amount of time.. then her child came in with a question to his school work, and my son who is 3 yrs younger answered!! I was so blessed by that, because it was a time when I was really questioning whether I was doing the right thing! All that to say good for you on choosing to follow your heart and do what is best for YOUR cjildren!
i was also home schooled when i was younger and it is also a great weay to get your education.::`
k
I am a mother,a public school teacher so I feel your “Do What Is Best” to my core! I admire all parents which make the decision to homeschool their children. Please know that there is not a handwriting program, reading workbook, or math sheet which teaches children. I could not help but notice that only homeschool parents had responded. I have had 6 children come through my classroom making the homeschool to public school transition. Only 2 of these 6 children had been taught-the others not so very sure what they did all day. This is not my declaration that homeschooling is horrible. It too clearly can and in my experience has differed greatly from student to student. I am not a sit in your seat kind of teacher, I love learning, but most of all I love TEACHING! Just remember teacher is a VERB not a NOUN-It is what you do DO!!! Not what you buy-I think all teachers sometimes need to be reminded-public, private, or home. I wish you the best and know you will do a great job.
Our son is 2 1/2 and we discussing the same idea. Is there any information that you can share on how you got started with it? I really want to get more info, but I don’t even know where to start. I am PETRIFIED, but excited too. I am not very creative and that is one thing that really scares me. Any info you can provide would be AWESOME!!
Hi… you have some great time to educate yourself on all that is out there on homeschooing. I am a homeschooling mother of 7 and love it! When my oldest was 5 I picked up a book by John Holt, Teach Your Own, and I fell in love with his view of how children learn. Check this book out, and check out some others. Homeschooling involves the idea of living and learning with your children–full time. I would have it no other way, it is very rewarding! When your children are with you full-time, they develop such a deep relationship with you because you are his main influence rather than peers.
No need to be scared, it’s a learning journey you’ll take together. Full of field trips, the movies, museums, the park, good book reads and the list goes on and on. I think you’ll find it’s very natural if you don’t try to emulate “school”. Feel free to contact me anytime:)
Hi. I am your newest follower
I just want to say… thanks so much for this post. I always wanted to homeschool my 3 older kids but never did. Of course there is still time to make the switch. Well now we have our 1 yr old. We really want to homeschool her. Your post is very encouraging! I just want to say thanks!
I am looking forward to reading more.
Oh! And you have such a beautiful family!
I truly think it was God that let me to your blog from another person blog. My husband and I are planning to homeschool in the fall. Our children where in public school this past year and we did not have a good exprience. I was second guessing myself yesterday about what we have decided and thought how would I have “me time”. Thank you for your wonderful blog. I will be following now and good luck with homeschooling in the fall.
-Valerie L.
You are wonderful and so inspiring!!! I just finished my first year (kindergarten) of homeschooling my daughter….LOVED it! I enjoy your blog! Thank you!
I’m so glad that a friend of mine put me onto your blog. It was like reading my thoughts! I’ve been homeschooling my son for five years now, and I have started with my second son as well. There certainly are days when it feels as if I could use a break, but I’ve found that a few minutes is all I need to remember what I’m doing and why I’m doing it. It’s great to hear what I believed to be true straight from the mouth of a former public school teacher. Thanks for this post!
I’m a homeschooling mom for many of the same reasons you listed, primarily 1) I like being with my children and do NOT need the 6 or 7 hour “break” from them M-F and 2) I also hate all the wasted time spent in school. I will admit that I do give them the option to go to regular school once they hit the higher grades…but for elementary, they are home with me! I love it
We have nine children and are currently expecting #10. I enjoy your blog very much! I’m going to get a new camera next month and am wondering if you think the Canon 50D is just as good as the 40D? I’m wondering which one to get…..?? Have a wonderful weekend!
Wow, you are an inspiration… even to us “seasoned” homeschoolers. We have been homeschooling since day one, which was almost 20 years ago! Our oldest is 19 now, and our youngest is 4, with 8 more in between… and they’re ALL BOYS… so I can empathize with you. Count your blessings (which I know you do) that you have Small Fry. I can’t wait till we have granddaughters!
We also had one that was very sick very young, and thank the Lord for his recovery. He’s such a treasure.
I just want to say: Thank you for sharing your story and your talents and beliefs. You certainly chose the right profession(s). Your writing and photography are engaging and beautiful.
I like your name, too. At one point, my boys called me “Miss Mama” when we were doing schoolwork.
This is so interesting. I was home schooled on and off and it was a pretty mixed experience (at times wonderful, at times not so great). I have occasionally toyed with the idea of home schooling but I am still undecided because of the social element (probably not such a big deal for your family! But I only have the one at the moment).
This post really crystallised the pros for me – particularly with the wasted time of a conventional school. And in my situation we live in a really bad school district so definitely worth thinking about.
I am so glad you wrote this post. It is time to start looking to put my first into school and just a few weeks ago, on the way to church, I was discussing it with my husband. While I was chatting to him about calling the private school on Monday, God spoke to me. He let me have the answer to the question I had been asking since she was born.
You see, I was brought up by amazing parents, but when I became 14, I rebelled. I went to private school, they did everything right, but I still made poor choices and am lucky I got out unscathed. I had been asking God, how do I change that for her? What can I do different? In that moment, he put it heavy on my heart to homeschool. He clearly gave me the understanding that a 14 year old girl may be put in situations she is not ready or mature enough to handle, even with great parents. That by the time she is 18, she will have a better handle on who she is and how decisions could alter her life.
I am more sure of homeschooling her than I have ever been. Am I afraid I won’t bring out her best or tap into her potential? Absolutley, but I relish the thought of sharing this experience with you. Please continue to write…it encourages us all!
God bless,
Tricia
We homeschool as well and many of your reasons for homeschooling are similar to ours. It has definitely been a journey and taught me a lot along the way. That makes it sound like we have been homeschooling forever, but we are really just finishing up first grade. We plan to continue all the way through school and some people just don’t understand our decision to homeschool, but it works for us. It allows us to let our son learn according to his interests and go at his pace (our daughter will be homeschooled too, but she is only 20 months right now). We use a curriculum, but we have our days where we deviate from it as well. It was a challenging experience in the beginning but once I became more flexible it has went so much better. I wouldn’t trade the experiences for the world and I can’t wait to see what next year brings.
Those are many of the same reasons we started homeschooling. It’s totally worth it. We’ve had so much fun, and our family is so close. I think homeschooling has had a lot to do with that.
Blessings on your first steps towards homeschooling! We started ours just a few years ago but like we felt we’ve been doing this since birth. We homeschool our children for a lot of similar reasons than you.
It will change “you” like other’s said! It’s so true. Get connected with a local support group, we really do need other homeschool moms around us.
I enjoy reading your blog.
Truly, “God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.”
The most amazing thing about homeschooling is how it will change *you*. You’ll look back on where you are now and smile with joy at where you were. It really is a leap of faith to begin this: you don’t know a *thing* but what God has invited you to consider, and so you step out in faith, to swim upstream, to counter the culture. Motherhood is infinitely more challenging with homeschooling in the mix, but the rewards are infinitely higher as well.
We’d been through the gamut of both public and private when we started hs’ing our three (oldest was starting 5th grade) and I would never go back. I was Elementary Ed, too. For anyone who thinks you need to be a trained teacher to homeschool? That can actually make things *more* difficult, as we teachers are barely taught anything about teaching and a lot about management. It just doesn’t work like that in the home setting (fortunately/unfortunately? : ).
As a teacher in a very exclusive all boys school (I hear you have to be born of the teacher to get in LOL) you are exactly right about how schools handle boys. The brain research has a lot to say about it, too. Check out the work of Dr. Michael Gurian.
Homeschooling is a *wild*, awesome ride, though! You’re shooting the rapids every day on a river of Glory. Go for it – and enjoy getting thoroughly drenched along the way! : )
Blessings to you as you begin this journey….we’re just finishing our 2nd year of Homeschooling our oldest…we’ll begin with our daughter in the fall…and the other two will play along side! It has been a challenge to get it all in; my husband and I both do forms of ministry and have the same child-care arrangement you describe with your spouse…my encouragement to you is to continue to make that time with McDaddy…it gets tricky as you try to get those diapers washed, babies nursed, kids bathed, lessons organized, house livable, etc….but, as you know, when we submit and follow God’s plan we can be assured we will be blessed if we don’t give up and that time with your partner makes all the difference in the world!
My friend just told me about your blog after. I LOVE it btw! I had just written a series about homeschooling our 5-year-old in the fall and our motivation is SO similar. I am excited for you on this new journey for your family.
My husband and I are worship leaders and travel for a living so homeschooling is a great option for us. I’m looking forward to getting ideas from your creativity.
Thanks for sharing!
Finishing up our 11th year…it’s been the adventure of a lifetime! My sister says, “It’s a hard road, but it’s a good road.” I fully agree. Can’t wait to see what God does in your family as He continues to work ours.
I hope all goes well.
If you’re looking for a sound handwriting curriculum, I totally dig Handwriting Without Tears. I wish I had used it with my oldest child (but he wasn’t homeschooled until 3rd grade). I noticed your son had some of his letters backwards, which I hear is common with conventional handwriting methods. My oldest son used to do the same thing as well. I started my middle child (a boy), who is currently preschool, on Handwriting Without Tears and he has never once written any of his letters or numbers backward. Their method really works!!!!!
I love homeschooling. This is our first year. Next year may be a challenge with one in Kindergarten and one in 1st grade, and 2 little ones in the house. But it will be fun for sure.
Enjoy your kids, they learn so much more being at home.
Good for you! Our daughter is still quite young, but we are already discussing her schooling options, and we are definitely considering homeschooling. I think it’s a family decision, and if you & McDaddy have decided that’s what’s best for your kids & family, then go for it! Good luck!
I have four kids age five and under and am seriously considering homeshcooling next fall. My five year old is finishing up her first year at Kindergarten and God has just not let me get away from wanting to Homeschool next year. NEVER thought I’d feel this way but now I’m just excited about it and SO excited to see you have a whole section about homeschooling. WOOHOO!!
Great post. I wrote a post about our homeschooling decision about a month ago, but as I read your post I couldn’t help but admire your writing! Hopefully some day I’ll get the hang of this blogging thing and be able to write even half as well as you do!
Anyway, I feel exactly the same as you do on this topic. We’ve decided to home school our 3 boys. Our oldest is 6 and will be starting 1st grade this fall. I’ve been working on kindergarten stuff with him, but we’ve just taken a really relaxed approach, especially since having our 3rd baby who is now almost 8 months. Thankfully, he learns so fast, and is always drawing and trying to write stories on his own, so he’s doing really well with his writing and reading without me even having to spend much time “officially” schooling him.
It’s been so hectic lately with trying to take care of the boys, get the house in some sort of order, trying to work on my home business, and take care of the husband in the evening, and everything in between that I keep thinking, how in the world can I do this? But it’s something that I really, really want to do. I’m planning on homeschooling till at least 3rd grade, but, like you, I’m keeping my options somewhat open. I definitely need to get into having routines and being organized!
A curriculum you might find interesting, that I really love, plus it’s very inexpensive and comes with K-12 grades all on a disk for the computer is A2(Accelerated Achievement) http://www.accelerated-achievement.com/
It is really great if you’re like me and don’t want to follow a strict outline. Plus you can print out math worksheets, reading books(if you can’t find them at the library), flash cards, etc…
To God be the glory!!!!! We are so blessed to be “FREE” to home school our children.
He is in everything! Good Luck, you’ll be great!
What a great article. You touched upon a lot of things I often find myself telling interested parties when asked about our choice to homeschool. I’m also a former public school teacher, so I frequently get asked, “Why didn’t you go back to the classroom?”. (I want to say, “Are you KIDDING???” That’s exactly why we chose to keep our kids OUT!” Been there, done that.)
Keep in mind that a huge benefit is the ability to hit many of the most popular travel destinations when the rest of the country is in school. We’ve come to discover that the best time to visit Disney, for example, is the week AFTER Thanksgiving break. The place is so empty, they even go so far as to cover up all the “FastPass” machines…there’s no need to use them!
Also, you can always sign a child up for an individual class here and there. I think many homeschool moms, as the kids get older, realize that there’s just as much value in being able to CHOOSE exactly WHO will be teaching your child (a luxury most public school parents will never enjoy).
Thanks again!
http://www.sylvanhomeschooling.com
I have found that many homeschooling kids are very curious about school, and secretly wish they could attend school. It sounds like so much fun to them! They don’t want to hurt their parents’ feelings by raising this issue. But they want to experience gym, art class, school plays, etc.
I do find that kids just don’t want to spend the whole day with their parents, after a certain age (maybe 7 or
They want to be with other nonfamily kids.
That is the obstacle I encounter when I think about homeschool.
Homeschooling is in my heart to way before I had my baby. Now I speak of it more and my mother couldn’t be more disapointed. I don’t know why she thinks homeschooling is so bad, but I plan to have a long sit down talk with her about it. I also have a very close friend who says “I think all children need to have the regular school experience”. Ehhh, I don’t agree with that either. I’m dreading the day I have to face my opposers, but I plan to get better informed for when the time comes. This is what I want. No one will ever love your kids more than you do and no one will ever care about their education as much as you do.