Why do you homeschool?

[mamiof5]

Not dumb at all. In tough days (or weeks) I need to remind myself of these reasons.

1. Mainly? Missing my kids, life is too short. Family unity, and our overall lifestyle.

2. It has been a blessing to be able to chose our curriculum, and incorporate our Faith in our educational journey.

3. Just because I love it and I am just glad the kids like it too :)

[ScoutTN]

My son would not do well in traditional school.

Family unity and time together.

Flexibility.

Socialization.

Academics and ability to tailor studies to student's needs and interests.

Worldview.

Public school is unacceptable for a host of reasons, esp middle and high school where we are zoned.

Private school is utterly beyond our reach financially.

I enjoy teaching.

I had to wait many years to get my kids, not about to throw away my years with them.

I have friends way ahead of me on this journey and I learned lots watching them so it wasn't too scary to start.

Just because I'm ornery and like to do things the hard way.

[shawthorne44]

Another big reason.  I want to fill in the HUGE gaps left by my public education, mostly grammar and history.  After "This is a noun, this is a verb" grammar education, I had none, zero, nada.  Until Junior year where we diagrammed a lot.  I enjoyed the diagramming.  But, I didn't learn when to use a or an until a friend in Honors English told me my senior year.  My history education was a joke.  Except for AP American History, we never got more than 1/3 of the way through any textbook.  

[Element]

I don't have any reason to send them to public school.

[Mama Geek]

Dh hated school, he ended up in lots of fights, he barely passed high school, by the way he now has a Master's in a STEM field.  Before dd was born, I got to know several people who homeschooled their kids and was really impressed with what they were doing.  We travel a fair amount since dh does contract work and we usually go with him.  We try to expose dd to as many different real life things as we can and we do stress academics and character both.

[HeWillSoar]

I homeschool because my kids weren't getting their needs met in public school--my 5th grader at the time was way ahead and my 7th grader was way behind.    Because I started homeschooling so late and teaching a middle school child who was behind, I felt like I really had to make up for lost time, and I didn't have time to waste.  Much of my time is spent doing school related things, either doing school or learning about doing school, or teaching myself the curriculum.  It has been really hard but I think my kids are benefiting, and so am I.  I can't wait to see what their test scores will be at the end of the year.  Last year's scores showed much improvement for my child who had struggled in public school. 

[Petrichor]

When DS was a toddler, I got interested in homeschooling because I knew a private, Islamic school would tough for us financially. After learning more about homeschooling, and realizing/learning more about schools, I realized homeschooling could give DS the education that public school - with so many kids, at different levels, but the same age - couldn't provide. 

 

So I got into homeschooling for religious reasons, but that quickly turned into academic reasons. 

 

So, yes, I research my curriculum choices thoroughly.

 

Most people I know who homeschool for religious reasons tend to use an online charter or a boxed curriculum from an online charter. I've also noticed they tend to throw in the towel after about a year or two, because the online charters require so much time, and the parents aren't seeing the results they were hoping for. (requires lots of parent energy to accomplish the same as they would learn in public school + lack of social time + lack of religious material in the curriculum).

[MeaganS]

I like these threads. :)

 

It was always on my radar. My mom considered homeschooling us when we lived somewhere with horrible schools but ultimately decided not to because we moved pretty quickly. My brother has fairly severe ADHD and I saw what school did to him and told myself that if I had a son with ADHD, I would homeschool him. These were thoughts I had as a youth.

 

When I was a very new mother (DD was about 8 months old, I think?) I had a friend who said she planned on homeschooling her kids. I told her that I loved the idea, but didn't think I had the personality to pull it off. But that conversation sparked the interest in me and I started researching. I LOVED researching and learning about all the possibilities and it wasn't long until I discovered the WTM and this forum. Reading the WTM was what made me believe I could actually do it. By the time oldest dd was 4, I could have told you the pros and cons of the most popular curricula available and lots of the lesser known ones. I just really enjoy it. :)

 

For me, the draw to homeschool initially was academics. I attended 12 different schools K-11 (graduated early) and was only ever impressed with 2 of them. One of those was a math and science boarding school and the other a math and science magnet school for elementary. The rest I felt like were a waste of my time. I was so bored in school and knew even then that it could be more efficient and better organized. I am not overly smart but I was in the gifted programs in my schools and DH is highly intelligent, so I assumed our kids would be and would probably be bored too.

 

Around this time DH decided that he didn't want to be in business for a career, he wanted to be a doctor (we were still in undergrad at the time). As you can imagine, the path to becoming a doctor is long and involved and has odd hours. So my second reason became the flexibility. We could take off time when he had time and maximize family time together.

 

The third reason was because my oldest dd was diagnosed with ASD at 3 and then Turners Syndrome at 6. While high functioning and mostly on grade level, she has required a lot of one-on-one and hand holding to get there and I think she would be lost in the school system. Being able to cater her curricula and give her the attention she needs has made all the difference for her.

 

So I guess they are, in order:

 

1. Academic

2. Flexibility/efficiency

3. Special needs

4. Assorted other minor bonuses that don't tip the scale but are nice (not waking up super early, socialization, etc.)

 

How it has panned out so far:

Reason 1, Academic: DD7 needs extra help academically. I didn't anticipate that, but it is good that I was already decided to do what my kids needed academically. DD5 wouldn't even be in Kindergarten yet by her age cut-off, but is reading on a second grade level and doing 1/2 grade math. She would be bored to tears by next year when she *should* be starting Kindergarten but would likely be in 2/3 grade math and reading chapter books. DD3 looks like she is following in DD5's footsteps.

 

Reason 2, Flexibility/Efficiency: DH works long, weird hours and is now in his second year of residency. He often works weekends and has weekdays off. Some days he gets home at 2 pm and many days the girls don't see him at all. He doesn't really get to choose his vacations, so they have been during what would be the school year around here. We have been able to travel together and spend time together that wouldn't have been an option if the girls were in public school. Also, school takes 2-3 hours for DD7 and maybe 2 hours for DD5. They have lots and lots of time to play, especially together.

 

Reason 3, Special needs: Self-explanatory.

[EKT]

I'm with you! We homeschool for a thousand different reasons, many of which are already listed here. For us, it was a VERY deeply thought out decision, not some fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants endeavor. We are constantly trying to improve things, constantly trying to learn more. My whole life is pretty much devoted to my kids' education. To me, it's such a huge decision; I take it very, very seriously. 

 

 

[Bluegoat]

When they are little, I think the expectations for education here are really inappropriate.  And I think the day is just too long for little ones.

 

I think having a good education is important, and I think what is offered here takes a lot of time for very poor results.  I also think that it tends to sour kids on academics in several different, and I would have thought mutually contradictory, ways.

 

I don't want to sacrifice family and at home time so that we can do things like piano lessons or outings.  And I want my kids to be able to get enough sleep without sacrificing these things.

 

I don't think the social environment at school is great.  Not so much things like swearing or drugs, more the whole idea of being thrown into a group of people in one age group for so many hours a day. 

 

I like that I can teach to a worldview, though that isn't the primary reason I homeschool.  But I think one of the problems in the public system is that it tries to have no worldview, so it ends up being fairly moronic.

 

I would also have considered a private school, if I could find one that was a good fit that I could afford.

[Bluegoat]

For my sanity.

 

If I had to put up with the crap in most schools today, I'd probably go nuts.

 

This is also a big one for me.  I occasionally have friends who discuss things like the homework their kids get.  My response is almost always that we just would not do it and I would tell the teacher that it is stupid.  I can't see that making for a great school experience for anyone.

[MeaganS]

Oh, I forgot a sort of philosophical reason that Bluegoat reminded me of. I don't like the mentality that the PS "owns" my kids. I see PS as a tool, not an end and it seems like this is not how many I attended view themselves. I was raised with this idea and as a kid, my mom would randomly let us stay home for whatever reason. I remember taking 3 or 4 days off (I was an all As student, so not an issue) to help my mom and aunt bead my cousin's wedding dress. It is one of my favorite memories and I'm glad my mom didn't bat an eye at keeping my home. She would let us take mental health days so long as we didn't have tests or huge projects due and kept our grades up. I would also have a hard time doing pointless time-consuming homework with my kids at home, especially at young ages. So yeah, the PS is probably glad we aren't involved. My kids would probably be truant. :)

[luuknam]

To be honest, I research curriculum for some subjects a lot more than for other subjects.

 

I have many reasons why I homeschool, but one that I haven't seen (explicitly) mentioned in this thread is to give the kids time to be bored. If they were in school, then between school, homework, and extracurriculars they'd be overscheduled. My 4yo was complaining today that he was bored while playing outside, and I told him that being bored is great, because that's when your brain is trying to take time to come up with new exciting things. And he did after a little while come up with a couple of new ways to play outside that I hadn't seen him play before.

[OvercomingSchool]

I homeschool because it was important to me that my children learn and risk and love to think. I wanted them to be home with me and get to experience books and the ideas in them for what they are, not distilled to bolded font that they memorize for tests. 

 

And now that I'm creating my own business, I realize that the public school system (which most private school systems adopt, too) are really bad at preparing children to be generous creators and innovators in life. Creators and innovators have the most fun and do the most good in this world. So, homeschooling fits hand in glove with my Christianity and with my philosophy of education. 

[SierraNevada]

We homeschool because public school couldn't meet the asynchronous needs of ds7. But even if they could, food allergies and my anxiety with someone else looking out for him would make me homeschool no matter what.

[Excelsior! Academy]

Our reasons for continuing to homeschool don't match with our original reasons to begin.  I wanted to homeschool from the time I was pregnant with my first dd.  I say I, because dh decidedly did not. 

 

Now we homeschool because we can tailor their educations to their learning styles and stages.  My super smart 9 year old boy, is certainly all boy and would likely get labeled in the public school system.  The worst thing anyone could do to him is to stick him in a classroom and make him sit for hours upon hours a day...and God help the teacher that took away recess from him as punishment.  Little would (s)he know that it was a self-inflicted punishment on the teacher her(him)self.

 

My sweet 16 dd can pursue college credit, write a novel, play violin and study French for hours on end, without putting it aside to finish hours upon hours of homework late into the night after her school day is over.

 

Our dds can drop their academics for the day to help a nearby pregnant mom with childcare or meet mid-day to gather with friends at the university library to discuss macroeconomics or debate the justice system (for fun!!).

 

We homeschool because....life.  It is life.  It is how I wish I were schooled.  No matter how cliche it sounds, my children can use the world as their classroom.  

 

A tailored education will always trump an institutional one.

[BooksandBoys]

I'm with Kinsa on this. Why would I send my kids to school? If/when I find a good answer, they'll go to school. I'm second generation (homeschooled for elementary), so it's always been a valid option in my head; I don't have to defend it. The hard part will be dealing with all my objections to school (no differentiation, too long of a day, excessive testing, no freedom to pursue interests) if we ever decide the kids need to go. I won't be a great PS mom. :-)

[Miss Marple]

Over the years I have been asked that question by many people and it made me think about my reasons and learn to distill them (because they were many) into one statement.  That statement is :  Because no one cares more for my sons' success, in all areas, than I do.  And as such, I will put more effort and focus into seeing them successful than anyone else.

 

The practical side of this was that homeschooling fit the model for the above statement for our family. The public schools near us are academically below average and are rife with drugs/violence/sex.  The private schools are excellent academically but rife with drugs/sex and are quite a distance from home.  Homeschooling allowed me to give the boys an academically challenging curriculum and to tailor it to their individual needs (one has a learning challenge).  It also allowed us to have a more involved family life and we were not subject to someone else's schedule.  As such, we were able to travel and engage in other extracurricular activities much more easily.

 

It turned out pretty well :)  I truly enjoyed homeschooling.  If I had not enjoyed it, I would certainly have found another way to accomplish my "mission" statement.

 

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

 

A tailored education will always trump an institutional one.

I agree with everything you said.  But not all homeschoolers have a tailored education.  

[abcmommy]

I'm on my last kid and my reasons have changed.  

 

In the beginning it was about academics.

 

Now its because:

 

I do not like getting up early

School would make me mad because it seems like a waste of time.

 

Really.  I believe elementary and middle school are a waste of time.  Period.

 

 

 

 

[Kareni]

I first learning about homeschooling because of an avid love of reading books about books.  Books such as Jim Trelease's The Read Aloud Handbook are often shelved in the education section of the library and thus I stumbled upon books on homeschooling.  It seemed like an impressive idea to me; however, we were in an area with good schools (even though I could see their imperfections) and our daughter ended up attending a public school from kindergarten through grade five.  Then we moved.

 

We began homeschooling our daughter in 7th grade due to (of all things) transportation issues.  Our daughter attended a charter school in 6th grade that necessitated a two-bus commute that added two hours to each school day.  She asked to be homeschooled the following year.  Given that I'm a micromanaging type, I had a schedule that first year with everything scheduled out in 15 minute increments.  I relaxed a bit as the years went by!  Also, we left the choice of homeschooling to my daughter.  Each year we presented options to her (i.e., informing her when a new arts focused high school opened in our area or the choice to take classes at the local high school) and each year she elected to continue homeschooling.

 

She graduated from our homeschool and went on to a fairly selective liberal arts college where she majored in Latin and minored in Geology and from which she graduated magna cum laude.  I'm happy for the time we had homeschooling; I feel that I got to spend much more time with her than I would have had she continued to attend school.

 

Regards,

Kareni