Why did I choose to homeschool?
- homeschoolhoopla
- Jul 15, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 11, 2022
Jessica's Answer
I taught in a couple different public schools. One was in an affluent suburb of Chicago and another was a high poverty school. Teachers were amazing at both schools. There were between 17 and 28 kids in classes. Time was spent on bathroom breaks and many other tasks. I was teaching full time and putting my kids in daycare all day. I LOVED the summers when we got to go to the beach, go explore new places, pick fruit, and just have fun! I wanted to be a part of my kids education. I wanted to have more time with them, and I also wanted them to be disciples of Christ. My first daughter went to school for kindergarten and first grade, and she had great teachers but already the issues were starting. With only 5 girls in her class and 12 boys, a girl told her she had to wear certain things if she wanted to be able to play with them. I expected these issues but not in first grade! Also, my daughter was well-behaved and understood the schoolwork, and I don't feel like she was being challenged. We would rush her off to school in the morning, then get her home to do homework, and then get her ready for bed. I never felt like we got to chat and do things except on the weekend, and this was when she was little, so I knew it would only get worse.
When we first started to homeschool, we only spent a couple hours on school. As they get older, school takes longer, but we are able to add in more subjects. The kids can work at their own pace. Some of my kids like to work ahead. Playing and exploring and learning the technologies and skills they enjoy are part of their everyday life. We were able to travel together as a family for one month to Europe in the off season when it's cheaper because we homeschool. We all work together to complete household tasks and I feel like I truly know my kids. It also gives me the opportunity to take the time needed to talk about life issues as they come up. Are there challenges to homeschool? Yes. Do I sometimes feel like I want to throw in the towel? Yes. But I have to say that is part of life and anything worth doing will have its ups and downs. I have even asked my kids if they would like to dual enroll or go back to public school and they do not. We are able to work through bible studies daily and memorize scripture and this was hard to do when we were trying to get them out the door in the morning.
I'm so glad we chose to homeschool. I have learned a lot and so have my kids. I enjoy coming along side of them and fostering an attitude of constant learning in life. It's all about the journey and not the destination.
Beth's Answer
I taught drafting for 6 years in a public high school. My plan was to work in the district where my kids went to school so that I could be well-acquainted with my children's friends and teachers. I knew that the most plugged-in parents had the most successful students. (It was never the parents who came to conferences and open houses that I needed to talk to!)
The year my second child was born, our state changed the graduation requirements to include more of the core subjects, which resulted in smaller enrollment in elective courses, such as drafting, and a transition in my position from full-time to part-time. Now I was facing putting my two small children in daycare on a part-time salary (which was almost a financial wash), still managing the stress of work, and missing all of the "firsts" my children would experience in someone else's care. Even still, I considered weathering the few years of this situation until my children were old enough for school. I remember clearly, expressing this dilemma to one of the administrators I worked with - she was like a motherly mentor - and how she responded was decisive for me. She said, "Beth, no one gets to be my age and thinks, 'I wish I would've worked more when my kids were little.'" That was exactly the encouragement I needed. In that instant, I was certain that choosing to be home during this time was exactly what I wanted to do... that I didn't want to get to the end of 18 brief years and have regrets about time lost with my children.
When my oldest daughter turned 5, we decided to consider all of our options for schooling. We looked into public school, private school, and attended the Great Homeschool Convention. It was at the convention that I was introduced to the classical education model. I sat in a session listening to Susan Wise Bauer explain the beauty of classical learning, and how it provided answers to the problems that were common in modern, progressive (public) schools. I was captivated by these ideas, and knew that I wanted to pursue such an education for my children. This was really my initial reason for choosing to homeschool, but my 'why' has grown and strengthened each year since we first started. Here are a few points of inspiration that have strengthened my 'why' over the years:
"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil." -C.S. Lewis;
I want to invest in my kids' lives, guiding them to value Truth, goodness, and beauty.
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." -William Butler Yeats
So many children seem to dislike school. Somewhere along the line, they lose their sense of wonder over God's created world. They're too preoccupied with preparing to perform well on the next test that learning incredible things has all but lost its intrinsic value. I want to reclaim this inspiration and wonder with my children, and make their education more like lighting a fire than filling a pail.
"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." -3 John 1:4
As much as I desire for my kids to grow intellectually, there is no higher priority for me than to see them grow spiritually. I am so thankful to have the time and opportunity to make Jesus Christ the center of all that we learn together.
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