I was homeschooled and because of the benefits I have gained from the experience I now want my children to be raised with the same benefits. But I know that might not convince you to home school your kids. So why should you homeschool?
As parents, we have a responsibility to raise our children the best that we can.
Homeschooling….
…..has gained in popularity in the last couple years. It is so exciting to see the growing number of homeschool families and today I am going to share with you why I believe homeschooling is necessary and why you might want to consider it. I have been homeschooled all throughout my school years and I am so thankful for it. I believe that we should homeschool our kids for the following reasons.
1.Education
Okay, I know this seems obvious but let me explain. I don’t think that the public school system does a good job educating. I know I will get crap for saying that but hear me out. Between the breaks and the wasted time kids really do not spend that much time in the classroom. And the time they do spend is spent learning things that I for one do not approve of. Things were bad when I was in school but I feel like that have gotten terribly worse over the last few years. Not only are our kids being filled with things I don’t believe in such as evolution but now they have to be brainwashed with things such and perverse sexual topics and heavy liberal thinking. I want to have control over when and how my kids learn about certain things. I believe that God has given me that gift as a parent and I do not take it lightly.
2. Time
I mentioned the waste of time at school above and I wanted to expound on it a bit more. When You are in school there are very large classrooms. This means that the teacher has to teach each one of those kids. And each one of those kids is going to have a different learning style. This results in wasted time. If you teach your kids at home you can get the work done much faster because you can work together one on one. You know your child and their style of learning and can help them get their work done in a much quicker manner.
Another aspect of time is how your child learns. In the public school system your child HAS to learn at the same pace as every other kid in their class. If they are at home you can move with them at the pace they are ready for. This way they will not be pushed faster then they are ready to go and they will not be held back.
3. Spiritual growth
As you have hopefully figured out by now I am a believer and strive to raise my kids in the same manner. From what I have seen it is very difficult for a child to go through public education and stay strong in the faith. I am not saying it is impossible but because of the time the kids are in school is it very hard for the parent to keep up with their kids spiritual growth. Between school and sports the kids are barely at home with the family. It makes having deep conversations almost impossible. I have heard parents say that they want to put their kids in school so that they can be a salt and a light…
….But to me that seems very far fetched. How can you expect your kinder gardener to be a salt and a light when most of us as adults are to scared to speak up in our own lives. We need to prepare them for what they will face before we send them into the real world. There is no way they are ready at 5 to really be effective.
4. Practical Learning
I want my kids to know how to do the practical things in life. They need to know how to cook, take care of kids and take care of a home etc. These are skills that get brushed aside in public education and as I said when your kids are gone for so many hours of the day it is hard for you to teach them these skills on your own.
If you have a homestead this is just another way your kids can learn practical life skills. They can learn how to grow and raise their own food and take care of themselves. This is a skill that is quickly dying.
5. Thinking outside the box
I have found that when kids grow up schooling at home they are more capable of thinking outside the box. Not saying that public school kids can’t think outside the box they just don’t have as much opportunity to. When they are in public school they are told what to do and when to do it. When your kids are home they have more opportunities to think more creatively.
6. No one loves like you
There is no one that loves your child like you do. So if your child is struggling you are the best person to help them through. I know there are some amazing teachers but they can not give your child what you can. God created you to be the mom of that child and only you can really give them what they need. Now I am not saying that you can never have help! No way! God gave us each other to help each other out. I just believe that it is our job to be the primary teacher in our children’s lives.
No one is going to encourage your child to become better and chase their dreams like YOU. No one can love like YOU!
You were given this child and the years go so fast. Don’t you want to be the one with your child 8+ hours and day and not someone else. I am a mom of young kids and I already can’t believe how fast the years go by. There is no way I want someone else having those moments with my child. Those are all mine!
7. Setting your own schedule
The great thing about homeschooling is that you can set your own schedule. This is great for everyday living and for family emergencies. Because you have flexibility your family is available to be there in case something happens. For example my Grandma has cancer and it is so relieving to know that I am free if she needs anything from me or my family. And My kids will not get behind because of it. We can just shift our day around and get both things done. I want my kids to know that school is important but so if loving and caring on our loved ones. To me that is part of education/raising my kids. I want to raise kids that think about others and how they can be a help to those around them and not just always focusing on themselves.
8. Spending time with people other then their peers
When kids are in the public school system they spend the majority of their time with their peers. Some kids struggle when they are put in situations when they have to talk to older people. I want my kids to know how to carry on a conversation with older people and be comfortable around young kids as well. We make it a point at our house to take our kids to visit older people. They have such great stories and it is so important for our kids to talk with them and ask questions. They can learn so much just from talking with the elderly.
9. Alternative learning
Before I get started with this point let me assure you that I do still teach my kids through books. But I think that we can teach our kids in other ways as well. I for one am a visual learner. I really struggle learning just by reading. So I try my best to teach my kids in all different ways. I want to teach my kids by doing, by hearing and by reading.
10. The family can learn together
We started a curriculum this year that I absolutely love. It is a way that all of my kids can learn together and help each other with their subjects. It is so great having the family together and learning as a team. And because the kids are home more Dad has a bigger role and can be a better leader of the family. He has the opportunity and pour into the kids lives more because they are around to spend time with. It is so sad to me when kids are gone and the Dad can only see them for a hour here or there. How can you expect him to lead the family when he can never even see his kids? And trust me the Dad is a very vital part of the family structure.
homeschooling is a very tough job but it is so worth it in the long run. I promise you will not regret it!
Q & A
If you are considering homeschooling I am sure that the questions are flooding your brain. I wanted to do my best to answer them so that you can feel more at peace about your decision.
Should I Home School my Child with ADHD?
I would strongly encourage you to homeschool your child with ADHD. Believe me, I know it will be hard but I think that it will be very beneficial for your child. I mentioned how when they go to public school it is hard for the teacher to give your child one on one time. And when your child has ADHD they will need even more one on one attention. When you have your child at home you can give them what they need. You also have the opportunity to give them alternate ways to learn. A lot of kids with ADHD need to be moving more and when you homeschool you can let them learn while they are being active. They can run in place do some jumping jacks Etc. They would be a disruption if they did that at school but because they are in the freedom of their own home they have more freedom.
But if your child needs some extra outside help there is nothing wrong with that. Sometimes things are a bit outside of our sphere of knowledge and we need people who know more in specific areas then we do. There are so many great resources when it comes to homeschooling children with different needs.
Should I Home School My child with anxiety?
Everything I said about homeschooling your child with ADHD applies here as well. Your child will have slightly different needs but the basic idea is the same. I believe a child with anxiety will do much better at home for many reasons. The most prominent reason being there mental state. If they are with a bunch of kids all day I would assume that might be part of the cause of their anxiety. If you can keep them home in a comfortable environment I believe that they will be able to learn much more efficiently.
Depending on the cause of the issue you might need help as well. But don’t feel like you have to put them into school full time. Check out the options in your community sometimes they have times your child can go in and get help without having to go to school for the full 8 hours.
When Should I start homeschooling?
Good question! Ideally, I would encourage you to homeschool all throughout your children’s school years. This way you will be able to start impressing good values and morals from a very young age… But if that is not an option for you I would suggest you start around 5th grade. My reason for that? Well by this age they will have learned the basics, reading, writing, math Etc. and they are at the age where they are very vulnerable. They care what their peers think and they will begin making decisions about the type of people they hang out with. I believe it is vital to have them home during these years so that you can be with them more and help encourage them to go down the right path. Those teen years are tough and you want to be the one helping to influence them and not their peers.
What qualifications do you need to homeschool?
This depends on your state. Thankfully in MI, you do not need a degree or qualifications. Now don’t think that just because you do not have a degree does not mean you are not qualified to teach your kids. You will have all the help you need from the curriculum that you choose. Some curriculum has the teacher on video. You are really more of just their guide. And if you think you are not qualified to teach a certain subject look into a co-op in your area. a co-op is a group of homeschool parents that come together and share the teaching responsibility. It is great for a first time homeschool family to get into the swing of homeschooling. I would highly recommend it!
Will my child lack a social life?
No way! If you think about it a homeschooled child will have more of a social life then a child who attends public school….Wanna know why? Public school kids are in classes all day and get in trouble when they socialize. In my opinion, homeschool kids are more socialized. I never felt like I was isolated or had no social life. I still played sports and did the same activities that the public school kids did.
Will my child miss out on sports?
Again, NO! Depending on your area they might be able to play sports on the local public school teams. I had no desire to play for the public school teams growing up because I wanted to play with my homeschool friends. thankfully we had some great homeschool teams in my area that I was able to be on. Look into groups in your area. There should be options for homeschool sports teams as well as drama clubs, orchestras, and other activities as well. Your child should not have to miss out on any of it!
Final thoughts
As you can see I am a big advocate of homeschooling. I just believe that it is our job as parents to raise our children as we see fit. The world continues to get more and more evil and dangerous and I want to do what I can to not only protect my children from it but also raise them in a way that they know how to deal with it. If you have any other questions about homeschooling or something I might have missed please let me know in the comments. I love to hear from you!
happy Homesteading!
~Courtney