To Homeschool or Not To Homeschool

This is how our dining room table always looks!

I took the plunge.  I sat on the fence for a while and now I have finally taken the plunge and started to homeschool.  I am only working with one daughter for now because I want to really get into the swing of things before I take on the both of them at the same time.  It has been an interesting rode to this decision and I want to share with you what brought me here.

Many moons ago I thought homeschooling was a poor choice.  It always seemed to me that homeschoolers seemed socially clumsy.  I thought it was a bad idea just based on that standpoint.  I would like to apologize fo rmy lack of vision for all the homeschoolers out there.  Now I see things differently.  And isnt that so often the case where you have to be in the shoes before you can judge it.  Well, I am in the shoes now.

I see that homeschooling has come along way since I was a child.  There are many homeschooling groups out there and many resources available.  Families can get aas much socialization as they want.  It is totally up to them.  There are choices now.

Homeschool is growing... rapidly.  Many people who can choose this option, are!  Why?  Well, that is as varied of an answer as there are homeschoolers.  I think you can group them into large headings though.  I will attempt to do that.  Bear in mind that I am not exactly an expert here so I am not trying to act like one, I just want to share what I know.

General Reasons for Homeschooling

1.  Safety.  There are many people who choose this option based on the bullying and violence that can go on in schools.  Not to mention the availability of drugs.

2.  Religious Reasons.  Many people want the opportunity to instill their own religious and moral values into their children.  Rather than the morals and values of the teacher/school/education system. I think this is predominantly why many people chose homeschooling from the beginning.


3.  Education.  With such a wide resource base out there; the library, the internet, programs in the community, parents find that their child can better learn outside of the classroom.  At home, the focus is only on your child.  Whereas school curriculum is not exactly geared to the individual.  Some students are rushing to keep up and some students are bored because they have to wait for everyone to catch up with them.  Home learning is specifically tailored to the individual.  You can go as fast as the student is ready to go. 

4.  Family.  Having children in the home makes for a great opportunity for the bonds between the family to grow.

The library in our area has homeschooling packets.  Very handy!

I am sure there are more but these are just the major ones I can think of at the moment.  I chose homeschooling almost totally based on education.  Last year, my daughter was singled out as a role model and often put with children who needed a role model.  While I understand this from a teaching perspective, as a Mom I don't like it.  I want my daughters focus to be on her education not waiting for behaviors in class to play out.  The amount of kids having behaviors that are disruptive to class is increasing.  Its unfortunate.

At home less time has to be devoted to studies because it isn't about the whole class, it is about the child.  The rest of the day can be given to things like language or field trips to museums, experiential learning and such.  Again, with such a wide variety of learning styles, parents can choose from an array of options.  Frankly, it is overwhelming.  Gleaning what your values are and what your child's learning style is one of the most important steps in the process.

homeschool organization central

Since my child has been home, things are different.  Over the summer I seen a dramatic decline in night wakings and nightmares. After she has been home, she tells me that she is excited that she doesn't have to hear the scary conversations she heard on the bus.

Actually, Halloween has always been a hard time for Bella, even the simple scary stores that the teacher reads bothered her.  Not to mention the talk of ghosts and things around this time of year especially.  I never liked that time of year for her really.

So all this to tell you that you will be seeing a lot mroe art projects and such and I will share some of my journey with you in hopes of clearing up any notions you might have about homeschooling or at least direct you where you can learn more about it.

Everything we need so I dont have to say - wait- lets find that.  Its portable too.  We can take it along on outings.