It happened. I agreed (willingly, and with some enthusiasm) to do the thing I swore I would never do. The thing I judged people for doing. The thing I thought was so crazy. The thing I thought was selfish and absurd. The thing I swore I would never do. Have I mentioned that I was totally against this thing and swore I would never do it?
We have decided to homeschool (insert gasp here).
Yes, folks, it's true. Starting this fall I will be homeschooling Michael and Liliana. As an educator (I have a teaching degree and used to teach birth to five-year-olds with special needs) I was always against homeschooling. My arguments against it were classic. You'll ruin your kids. They'll be awkward. They won't have any social skills. They won't learn anything real. They'll be sheltered and freak out when they enter the "real world." You'll deprive them of the joys of public education. They'll miss out on the things I loved as a student. The list goes on. The problem with my list of reasons against homeschooling is that I never really looked into homeschooling seriously enough to see what it was all about.
This past fall, I started talking to my friends that homeschool. Their children were normal. They had great social skills. They were extremely intelligent. They were well mannered and had a solid faith in Jesus. The more I talked with Moms about why they chose to homeschool, the more I understood why someone would choose to homeschool. And as those reasons continued to sink in, the idea of public education became less and less appealing for our family. So, after much discussion, prayer, and research, we have decided to homeschool. And we are excited about it. Nervous too, but mainly excited and anxious to see how God will use this new adventure in our lives to grow us closer to Him and closer to each other.
So, why did we ultimately decide to homeschool? Here are the top 5 reasons:
1. It allows our kids to be kids for as long as possible.
Homeschooling only takes up a fraction of your day -- especially when your kids are little. Then our kids can play and "be kids" for the remainder of the day. When you go to public school, they are there for 6 or 7 hours a day. When they get home from school, they have homework to do as well. On top of that, they will likely have extra curricular activities. This busy schedule leaves little time for our kids to just play, relax, and have fun.
2. It allows us to be the biggest influence in our kids' lives.
While kids are in school all day, they are being influenced by all sorts of people that may have a negative impact on them. Young kids are very impressionable. They'll believe anything. And while I agree that it is good for them to be in contact with people that have different beliefs and morals than us, I don't want them to have to debate Christianity at age 7. That shouldn't be their responsibility. This is a time for them to learn and grow in Christ under our protective wing. And believe me when I saw I'm not a helicopter Mom. I want our kids to learn from their own mistakes and grow on their own. But, I also want them to be protected while they are young and innocent.
3. We get to pick what our children learn.
When you homeschool, you get to pick the curriculum. We have the privilege to be able to pick a Christian curriculum so that through their everyday studies of history, grammar, spelling, etc, they learn Bible verses, Bible stories, and about the history of and in the Bible. We are thrilled about the curriculum that we have chosen for our kids. It is called Classical Conversations. It's a classical curriculum. It works really well with a big family because everyone learns the same thing each year, but the older kids go more in depth. We are very excited to see how our children thrive, grow, and learn through this Christian curriculum.
4. I get to spend more time with my kids.
I have never felt quite ready to send Michael to Kindergarten in the fall. I know a lot of Moms share this feeling as their first child (or maybe as any of their children) enters Kindergarten. But, this feeling is even more exaggerated for me because Michael has only been home for three years. Imagine sending your three-year-old to Kindergarten! Homeschooling allows me more time at home with all the kids. Which means more time to continue to bond, attach, get to know each other, and learn how to be a forever family together.
5. We are being obedient to the call to homeschool.
Believe me when I say that I wouldn't homeschool had God not asked me to. This is not something I'm doing for me. It's partially something I'm doing for the kids because I truly believe homeschooling is in their best interest. Most importantly, I'm homeschooling because I believe God has asked me to do it. Maybe He's teaching me to be obedient in doing something crazy and controversial (especially in my family). Maybe He's preparing us for something bigger (like moving to Ethiopia to do mission work). Or maybe He's asking us to do this so He can grow us as a family. No matter the reason, we've chosen to say Yes the first time He asked. No doubt their will be struggles along the way. No doubt their will be people judging us for our decision. No doubt I will doubt my ability to teach my kids and get frustrated. But, despite all that, we are choosing Jesus and His plans for our life. And right now that means we are going to homeschool our kids.
And for those of you who think we are crazy. Who think we will let our kids down. Who think that they will miss out. Who think that they will be socially awkward. I challenge you to keep an open mind and to watch as this crazy plan unfolds in our lives. Because I know from the bottom of my heart that this is right for our family and therefore great things are bound to happen this year. Just wait -- you'll see. And we're excited to see too.
If you have further questions about homeschooling, there is a great article we read that does a fantastic job at explaining why we, and so many other families, are choosing to homeschool our kids. You can find the article here.
We have decided to homeschool (insert gasp here).
Yes, folks, it's true. Starting this fall I will be homeschooling Michael and Liliana. As an educator (I have a teaching degree and used to teach birth to five-year-olds with special needs) I was always against homeschooling. My arguments against it were classic. You'll ruin your kids. They'll be awkward. They won't have any social skills. They won't learn anything real. They'll be sheltered and freak out when they enter the "real world." You'll deprive them of the joys of public education. They'll miss out on the things I loved as a student. The list goes on. The problem with my list of reasons against homeschooling is that I never really looked into homeschooling seriously enough to see what it was all about.
This past fall, I started talking to my friends that homeschool. Their children were normal. They had great social skills. They were extremely intelligent. They were well mannered and had a solid faith in Jesus. The more I talked with Moms about why they chose to homeschool, the more I understood why someone would choose to homeschool. And as those reasons continued to sink in, the idea of public education became less and less appealing for our family. So, after much discussion, prayer, and research, we have decided to homeschool. And we are excited about it. Nervous too, but mainly excited and anxious to see how God will use this new adventure in our lives to grow us closer to Him and closer to each other.
So, why did we ultimately decide to homeschool? Here are the top 5 reasons:
1. It allows our kids to be kids for as long as possible.
Homeschooling only takes up a fraction of your day -- especially when your kids are little. Then our kids can play and "be kids" for the remainder of the day. When you go to public school, they are there for 6 or 7 hours a day. When they get home from school, they have homework to do as well. On top of that, they will likely have extra curricular activities. This busy schedule leaves little time for our kids to just play, relax, and have fun.
2. It allows us to be the biggest influence in our kids' lives.
While kids are in school all day, they are being influenced by all sorts of people that may have a negative impact on them. Young kids are very impressionable. They'll believe anything. And while I agree that it is good for them to be in contact with people that have different beliefs and morals than us, I don't want them to have to debate Christianity at age 7. That shouldn't be their responsibility. This is a time for them to learn and grow in Christ under our protective wing. And believe me when I saw I'm not a helicopter Mom. I want our kids to learn from their own mistakes and grow on their own. But, I also want them to be protected while they are young and innocent.
3. We get to pick what our children learn.
When you homeschool, you get to pick the curriculum. We have the privilege to be able to pick a Christian curriculum so that through their everyday studies of history, grammar, spelling, etc, they learn Bible verses, Bible stories, and about the history of and in the Bible. We are thrilled about the curriculum that we have chosen for our kids. It is called Classical Conversations. It's a classical curriculum. It works really well with a big family because everyone learns the same thing each year, but the older kids go more in depth. We are very excited to see how our children thrive, grow, and learn through this Christian curriculum.
4. I get to spend more time with my kids.
I have never felt quite ready to send Michael to Kindergarten in the fall. I know a lot of Moms share this feeling as their first child (or maybe as any of their children) enters Kindergarten. But, this feeling is even more exaggerated for me because Michael has only been home for three years. Imagine sending your three-year-old to Kindergarten! Homeschooling allows me more time at home with all the kids. Which means more time to continue to bond, attach, get to know each other, and learn how to be a forever family together.
5. We are being obedient to the call to homeschool.
Believe me when I say that I wouldn't homeschool had God not asked me to. This is not something I'm doing for me. It's partially something I'm doing for the kids because I truly believe homeschooling is in their best interest. Most importantly, I'm homeschooling because I believe God has asked me to do it. Maybe He's teaching me to be obedient in doing something crazy and controversial (especially in my family). Maybe He's preparing us for something bigger (like moving to Ethiopia to do mission work). Or maybe He's asking us to do this so He can grow us as a family. No matter the reason, we've chosen to say Yes the first time He asked. No doubt their will be struggles along the way. No doubt their will be people judging us for our decision. No doubt I will doubt my ability to teach my kids and get frustrated. But, despite all that, we are choosing Jesus and His plans for our life. And right now that means we are going to homeschool our kids.
And for those of you who think we are crazy. Who think we will let our kids down. Who think that they will miss out. Who think that they will be socially awkward. I challenge you to keep an open mind and to watch as this crazy plan unfolds in our lives. Because I know from the bottom of my heart that this is right for our family and therefore great things are bound to happen this year. Just wait -- you'll see. And we're excited to see too.
If you have further questions about homeschooling, there is a great article we read that does a fantastic job at explaining why we, and so many other families, are choosing to homeschool our kids. You can find the article here.
Your kids will be awesome at Classical Conversations. Memorizing is not really my kids' strong suit so I don't think we would excel at that, but having heard how well your kids memorize scripture I think it will be an awesome fit for your kids. :-) Yeah for crazy!
ReplyDeleteSome kids are socially awkward even when they go to public school...I sure was! ;-)
isn't it funny how God pushes us to places we swore we would never go? the good thing is that He goes before us and with us and shows His strength in our weakness. we homeschooled our older two for the first two years and loved it. we have also sent them to a wonderful public school and an awesome christian school. each time, God led the way and we followed.
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