Why Homeschooling Works For Us

There are three reasons why homeschooling works for us.

1. Flexibility
2. Responsibility
   
3. Ability

1. Flexibility

I work best with a little flexibility. I get a little cramped when I give myself too many deadlines. I like that my daughter can come into my room at 6:30 in the morning and we can spend time on one of our preschool games, or read a book together, or we can start our learning day at 9:00. I like that my son can wake up from his nap and we can spend some time counting his favorite trucks.

Most days, I am not rushed to get the kids up and out. I can take my time and use every possible moment as a teaching moment. Plus, I'm a busy momma. I can work on learning whenever, and wherever, and my children learn about life from living it.

This works well for us. At least for now while our children are young, this flexibility is freedom.

2. Responsibility

Taking responsibility for your actions, good or bad, is key to finding true happiness. I truly believe that.

As a mother, I am responsible for the education of my children. I am responsible for teaching them how to be productive members of society.

For some mom's, that looks like sending their children to a public school and being an involved parent. There's nothing wrong with that. For me, it looks like homeschooling.

Ultimately, my children will benefit from my involvement in their education in the same way that a publicly schooled student will benefit from having an actively involved parent.

I am choosing to homeschool, because it's the responsible thing for me to do.

3. Ability

I am able to teach my children, so why not? As my children get older and get smarter than I am, I will give them their choice of resources that will extend my abilities to teach them, including public school. However, that's not where ability stops.

When I talk about ability, I'm not just talking about my own ability to teach. I also mean that I can teach to my children's abilities.

I looked at the curriculum for the kindergarten classes at my local school and my little girl would be so bored. She knew her letters and letter sounds by age 3. She's reading before age 5. We've worked on sorting and patterns and she can count to more than one hundred. She's even adding. I don't say this to brag, not even a little bit. All I mean by this is that, I'm sure she'd get into mischief during instruction time! She'd either try to answer all the questions and get into trouble for talking too much, then have an emotional melt down when the teacher tells her to stop, or she'd fall behind because she'll be staring off into space because the teacher lost her. She needs something different than what's being offered at public school.

On the other hand, my son is a late talker, so he may struggle to communicate with others, but his intelligence is certainly not lacking. He can could count to 20 without help before he could really say the numbers. He has really well developed motor skills and can handle doing most of the things that my daughter can, and somethings more.  I'm afraid that in a public school situation, he might be labeled "special needs" and he would be held back in other areas because of it. He is an incredibly bright boy, and he doesn't deserve that.

I want to set my children up for success. I know my children, I can give them what's best. I don't have to place unrealistic expectations on teachers, and we are free to learn at our own paces.

This is what works for us. What works for you?