Why I Homeschool

“What made you decide to homeschool?” is a question I get ALL. THE. TIME!!! Well, I am here to answer that.

Growing up, I never had the desire to be a teacher. A lot of my family and friends were into teaching and taught Sunday school or were planning on becoming teachers when they grow up, but I had no interest in that. Actually, if you were my senior project judge, you would say that I’m lying. Because my senior project in high school was all about how I want to be a teacher when I grow up. Hey, it was an easy idea. Besides, I was too busy hanging out with my boyfriend to really try and do something I’m passionate about. I just wanted to pass and graduate.

Also, I am not one who has an insane amount of patience, like some people out there do. I wish I did. So I was not naturally inclined to homeschool. When people talked about homeschooling or when I’d see things about it online, I would tell myself and others that it is not for me, whatsoever. I would say that I would rather work every day, even if I made just enough money to pay for private school, but no way am I staying home with the kids and being with them 24/7. I love my kids, but mama needs a break sometimes.  But over time, as my kids grew and as I’ve read books and articles on parenting and the benefits of homeschool, I began to tell myself that I need to suck it up and get over myself and do this for the kids. And I did.

So, here are a few reasons that made me change my mind and embark on this challenging journey.

1. For the love of learning! 
   • I wanted my kids to love learning. I feel like that is so important in life. If one has a desire to learn, they can do anything. *Real life truth though: I had this dream that the kids are going to love school and we will be having so much fun! Every. Single. Day. But if you ask them if they love school, unfortunately, they wont always say yes. So when they say they don’t like it (and 90% of the time its my DS), I feel like I’ve failed.  School is fun, but its not always fun.
2. So my kids could learn at their own pace.
   • I didn’t want my kids to compare, or be compared to, how “smart” or “not smart” they are to other children. I believe every person learns, not only in different ways, but also at a different pace. Some kids are good at everything and understand things easily, while others struggle with learning and take more time to understand things. And some will get math quicker than language arts, and vice versa. I didn’t want my kids to ever feel dumb, slow, or stupid, just because all their classmates get it, but they don’t.
3. I wanted  my kids to be able to get that extra time and attention in areas where they need more help.
   • For example, my 2nd grader is really strong in math, but struggles a little bit with Language Arts, so I spend more time with her on that. My 3rd grader, on the other hand, is strong in Language arts and doesn’t need as much assistance.
4. I wanted my kids to have the freedom to be kids!
   • I’m not saying that I don’t teach my kids responsibilities, believe me, they have plenty of that. I just didn’t like how schools, after spending hours of doing school work at school, send the kids home with even more hours of homework. And if the kids have sports and music lessons on top of that, when do they have time to be kids and do things like dishes, mopping the floors, and vacuuming? That’s what kids are into these days, right?
5. I wanted to be able to teach them what I want, when I want, and how I want.
   • Well, that’s a pretty clear one. No need for an explanation

I hope you enjoyed reading what MY reasons are for homeschooling. Not everyone has the same ones, so feel free to share in the comments what yours are, if you home school or plan to, or maybe you would love to, but you can’t.

**Side note: I am not AT ALL against sending your kids to school. Everyone has the right to choose how they want to school their kids, and I just chose homeschooling. I have decided that, FOR MY KIDS, this is the best option.