A Learning Lifestyle ... or... Why We Homeschool

This week we started back homeschooling after a nice holiday break.  When we started homeschooling it was because of problems at school.  But after several years, it's no longer about problems at school for us.  If the local school was stellar, we'd still homeschool.  It's not about anti-government conviction either.  If that was true, we'd be okay with private schools.  It's not about religious formation.  If that was true, we'd be okay with Catholic schools.  Our conviction about homeschooling is about something much more central to our family life and the well being of our children.  It's about the rich environment of learning at home with people who love them and are invested in their long-term future.

Homeschooling provides a rich learning environment.  Because my kids skip all the time used in organizing and managing a classroom, their education time is concentrated and potent.  As a result they are able to study more without additional time or energy.  Because I've had kids in school, I have a general idea of what is covered.  In addition to what they would learn at the local public school, my children study foreign language beginning quite young, religion and Bible, history and science everyday, and read a lot more.

Homeschooling provides individualization.  Lower classroom sizes are the hallmark of excellent education.  Our classroom is pretty small — only four, plus a preschooler.  It allows us to individualize and customize based on our children's interests and aptitudes.  Our eighth grade daughter excels at math and decided to study both Algebra II and Geometry this year.  Our tenth grade daughter has a harder time with math; once she got to the end of a chapter and failed the test.  We simply went back to the beginning of the chapter, did it again, and the second time she did much better.  This same child finds foreign language nearly effortless — she's studying Spanish and French and intends to add Japanese and German next year.  Our fourth grade twins are interested in Biblical Greek so now we're studying it.  They are studying both Idaho state history and early American history.

Homeschooling sets up realistic expectations for adult life.  I remember the transition from the school calendar to a working calendar in my young adult years.  Suddenly I was working over Christmas break and spring break and summer break.  It truly was a shock to my system, and I realized how my expectations had been skewed by my school experience.  Our homeschool schedule is year-round with breaks for projects like spring planting and harvest, with only occasionally vacations.  Learning has become an intentional part of everyday living.  Because my children don't have the physical shift from home to classroom, a homeschool day isn't significantly different from a break day; we're just working on different things.  When we do truly have vacations, like over Christmas, they savor the time.

Homeschooling is about healthy family relationships.  My children treat their siblings like friends, which seems different than the average family.  It's not because they are inherently nicer kids.  It's not because we are exceptionally better parents.  It's because they spend their days with their siblings.  Their brothers and sisters are their peers at "recess."  They have the time and motivation to develop strong relationships.  They have become each others best friends.

Homeschooling is about better parenting.  Because my husband and I are with our children so much, it's made us deal with problems in our parenting.   We've had to deal head on with minding, follow through, and being good role models.  You don't have to be with children 24/7 very long before lack of minding just has to be dealt with.  If my children were off at school and day care and activities, I think we could have avoided dealing with those problems and just complained a lot, as I see some others doing.  But homeschooling has made us resolve these issues and we are all happier as a result.

Frankly, it's not all about the kids.  Homeschooling is a lot of fun for me.  I'm reading really good novels that I never read when I was young.  I'm learning history again as I go through it with my children.  I'm watching eyes light up as they figure out math problems.  I'm sharing the joy of discovery in science experiments and the joy of creation in art projects.  And I'm spending my days with the people who mean the most to me in the entire world.

Since we have started homeschooling we are are happier people and happier with each other.  My children can explore their interests and know they are safe in their weaknesses.  In the end, no one is as invested in our children's future as those of us who expect to be part of it.