Why Homeschool: 6 Fantastic Reasons For 2024
I can see the end of this school year in the distance, beckoning us onward with encouraging visions of warm weather and outdoor adventures, and I’ve gotten the bug to start planning for next year. We’ve already finished a couple subjects and I hope to wrap up the rest by early May so that we can enjoy spring – one of my favorite seasons for being outside.
As I plan for next year I also think about this past year – what worked, and what didn’t – and homeschool in general. These past twelve months, this strange unsettling year, with our world shaken by a global pandemic and its economic and political repercussions, has made me more grateful than ever before for the freedom to homeschool our children. It was one less thing to worry about; one part of our life that I knew would remain normal; one thing that could not be affected by mask mandates, or stay at home orders, or violent protests around the country. This is not to say, of course, that we and our children were unaffected by the pandemic, but just to express my thankfulness that neither our school routine nor our level of academic progress had to change in the slightest.
Maybe you – like hundreds, maybe thousands, of others – have considered homeschooling this past year. Maybe you’ve already taken the plunge! Maybe you are dissatisfied with your child’s current school situation. Or, maybe you are perfectly satisfied with where they are – and if so, that’s great! Don’t fix what isn’t broken.
I shared my first reasons for homeschooling once before. Today I’d like to add a few more that we’ve learned to appreciate over the past three years; a few more reasons why homeschool is such a fantastic choice for our family. Take a read and see if this is something that could be right for your family!
Six More Reasons Why Homeschool Works for Us
I can do better. Yes, I do firmly believe that I can give my children a better education than the public, private, and Christian schools can. This could appear arrogant, though I don’t think it is. Think about it – would anyone take their children out of public school if they thought it would mean a drop in their academic performance? Any parent who homeschools must believe that they can at least equal, if not excel, the standard set by the public school. I have a great respect for all school room teachers, and I do not doubt their abilities nor their motives. However, when you start to talk about a 1:4 teacher to child ratio in our home classroom, a teacher (mom) who is more invested in the outcome and cares more about the child than anyone else, and an abundance of materials, books, and resources specifically designed to help her succeed in this endeavor – there’s just no way that one teacher trying to help a whole classroom full of children can even compare with that mom who wants to teach her children.
Furthermore, I think that the very environment and structure of most schools today (much of which is out of the control of teachers) is not conducive to real learning or creativity, especially for the youngest grades. I have a different educational philosophy, I know that my children can thrive in it, and by God’s grace I will do my best to create that environment for them. Read a few books by John Holt if you’d like to find out more about why children have a hard time learning in a traditional school setting.
We have time to talk. I’m starting to think that “quality time” is a myth. And I don’t mean “quality time as a love language;” many people, kids and adults, need and love that. Instead I mean the idea that says, “if I can’t have a lot of time with my kid (quantity time), I’ll just make sure I spend some good ‘quality time’ with them here and there.” The myth here is that you can somehow force your child to be focused on you and eager to talk about life’s deepest issues at the specific time slot in the month that you have set aside for said child. If you’ve spent any time at all with children, you probably couldn’t even read that sentence without laughing. Children don’t like being forced into anything, least of all opening up to their parents! We like taking our children on dates, and it’s definitely good and worthwhile (please do it!), but there are many dates I’ve been on where the child has said less that ten words the whole time. I don’t exactly know why, as they spend the entire day trying to talk over their siblings at home, but it’s okay. I know we’ll have lots more time together, and when they are ready, I will be there to listen.
And that’s the point here. During the past few years, we have had numerous good questions and deep conversations that have happened at the most random, unplanned-on-my-part, usually-inconvenient times. This is not a binary issue – “if your kids are in the public school you won’t have good conversations and if they’re homeschooled then you will” – no. But the more time you have with them, the more chance there is that The Moment they want to talk will be a moment you are there to hear them.
Sibling relationships. Like good conversations, these things take time. I love that Baby Sister is with her brothers most of the day, and that they have time to read to her and play with her. I love that my boys are not separated into different classes all day long, but are learning many of the same things together and hearing the same stories together. These memories and shared experiences are strengthening their bond and increasing the likelihood that they will have strong relationships for many years. Sure, there are many times where they provoke and annoy each other and they need a break with some space from all those siblings – but they’re also learning to live with others and give grace and forgive, and most of the time they play and enjoy each other like the best friends they really are. It’s especially sweet to watch the olders helping the youngers, and I hope and pray that the affection they have now for each other will only grow and deepen with each passing year. Again, this is not a black and white issue, and there are no guarantees either way – but at least we’ve got plenty of time to keep working on it.
Flexibility. We can take vacations in the off-season, we can spend a day at the playground just because the weather’s nice, we can do catch-up work on a rainy weekend, or spend the day with cuddles and read-alouds if someone’s not feeling well. We can take a few months off when a new baby joins our family, and do more work in the summer to make up for it. We can take our books to grandma’s house and do school there for a week. We can do math at a coffee shop, or phonics at a park. We can take field trips during the week when museums are less busy and botanical gardens are cheaper. I feel like I am quoting Green Eggs and Ham here: “Yes, you can eat them here or there; you can eat them anywhere!” Homeschool is not confined to Monday through Friday, September through June – it can really be done anytime, anywhere, and I love the flexibility that gives us.
We set our own screen time limits. Screen time is one hot-button issue of our age, and the research appears to show plenty of cause for concern. We do well to tread lightly here. It’s a side bonus of homeschooling but I do appreciate that the only screen time our children get is what I give them. Every school is different, but I get the impression that many if not most schools have the children on a computer or tablet for some portion of the day. Even if it’s educational, I still don’t like that. We are very limited and very picky about what screen time our children are allowed and I like it that way.
Time to deep-dive and follow interests. Another perk of the flexibility and extra time that our boys have during the day is that they have time to spend on their individual interests. I wrote about how Big Brother in particular goes through phases where he obsesses about a topic and spends all his free time reading and drawing about that particular subject; so far he’s gone through a solar system phase, a geography kick, and is currently fascinated by human body anatomy. To a lesser extent, his brothers also have their special interests and hobbies that they like to spend time on, and I love that they have the time to do so. Little Brother has a puzzle of the United States that he has been working on steadily for about two months. He’s already mastered it and can put it together easily – but still, every single day, he takes it out and puts it together and takes it apart again and repeats. Over and over and over. I don’t know why, and I am SO curious to know what his brain is learning and internalizing through this process! However, even without knowing exactly why he needs this, I know it is important, and I’m so glad he has the time to do it. Interest-based learning is not a waste – in fact, it might just be the best quality learning time that happens for a child on any given day.
Sometimes I feel like homeschooling – or maybe even parenting – is like climbing a mountain shrouded in fog. I have a general idea of where I want to go, and why, but as I climb, patches of fog begin to clear and the distance and quality of my vision increases. I still don’t know where the top is, or what it will exactly look like, but I’m encouraged by the views I’ve seen so far and I know we’re on the right path. I can’t wait to see our view in five years!
Originally written March 18 2021
