While I haven’t faced a lot of opposition to the choice that my husband and I made to home school our children, I can certainly sense doubt from some. Tone of voice and body language say so much more than one might like to know. Individuals I don’t know, friends and even family have subjected me to the “doubt waves.”
But before I get into specifics, I’ll give a generic answer for those who would like to stop reading here: We want to educate our children.
The mind of a child is like a sponge. It soaks up everything it sees, hears and even feels… emotions. We want our children to SEE subjects in action in real life. Not in a box… a school room full of children. One might argue we are putting them in a box, but quite the opposite is true. Our children will be more free to see things applied outside of “the box.” They need to be shown and not just told. Because they are learning at home, they know that school is never really out. It doesn’t end at, say, 3:30. It’s on going. And since we’ll be teaching them, we always know what they are learning. Sure, some parents get “involved” in the child’s learning, but that soon fades, and you can never know the level at which your child is learning, unless you are teaching and learning with them. I want to know what my child is learning, and I don’t want to be tempted to shrug it off as “that’s what school is for.”
God gave us these children to raise and I can not see dropping off my most valuable asset of assets… my children’s minds, to someone else for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, 9 months a year. 7 hours… a day?! A DAY?! One child?! That’s enough to make me tired.
We want our children to HEAR from us.
We want our children to come to us with questions. And we want to be able to guide them in the right direction. We don’t want to leave such a wide gap open for someone else to do this. The most important relationship in a child's life (after the relationship between him and God) is the one between him and his parents. And we want to do everything we can to develop this as strong early on.
Siblings are very important as well, but that’s another topic for another day.
The things heard at school can be good, but also hurtful and mean. Such things can influence learning greatly. It’s very hard for a child to concentrate when he is thinking about the mean thing another child said to him at recess. Or the kid behind him that’s poking him with a pencil. Of course all of these things take place in every class room at one time or another, it may not be often, but we still don’t want to subject our children at such a young age to distractions such as these, especially if we have a choice in the matter. And some kids are just MEAN!
Among other distractions are hunger, sleepiness or even not feeling well. We will nearly eliminate these issues by homeschooling. There are so many other wonderful reasons we chose this but I don’t want to make this post too long.
We are not raising our children with cradled EMOTIONS, but allowing their emotions to develop at a proper pace. One that involves them to understand feelings and interpret them properly. It is easy for a child to cry at teasing because it hurts his feelings, which are still so pliable. We want to strengthen their emotions. Not harden their emotions, but strengthen them. Allow them to feel deeper, analyze them better and respond to them in a proper manner. Will they always respond properly? No. We all, from time to time, slip up, but we feel with this way of schooling we can better prepare them with what they need for proper emotional development.
Of course the socialization question must be brought up. I once read from a great mind: “That’s one reason why we are homeschooling!” And it’s the truth. Our children will get plenty of interaction with other children, but it will be with other children who we know have parents that think in line with us. Of course they will also be exposed to those who don’t, eventually, but we want to equip them with the proper tools before “facing the world.” While learning how to socialize is important, it’s not an important part of learning. We’d like our kids to concentrate on topics at hand and the two ideas remain separate. They will participate in things such as band and sports. They’ll be in church groups and also with home school groups. They will still be well rounded even though they are not participating in socialization within traditional school hours.
We are also able to move at the speed of the child, not the speed of the class. Traditional school is generalized, we want to be personalized. We want to cater to the strengths and weaknesses of our children and give them the right amount of everything they need to grow well and properly. We want them to not fear asking a question if something is not understood.
Does this mean we don’t like public school or even private schools? No. This is what is right for our family. Our children will be dual enrolled and probably take certain courses in the public school system one day, such as a foreign language.
I do wish that more families would understand that they CAN home school. What makes the idea overwhelming is where to start. I’ve found the best place is to find other people who have homeschooled or who are homeschooling. They can generally relate to any fears, doubt or questions you have and help you work through them or tell you where to start.
If you are unable to home school your child or children, I want to encourage you to get involved with them as much as you can. Stay motivated in their learning. Know what they are learning and show them how to apply the knowledge they have. You are still teaching your child even if not in academics. Be a good example. Do as you say.
Homeschooling is right for us and it’s the way the Lord has put in our heart to school. Not much is more valuable than one on one learning and teaching to us. It’s a priceless process. One that we are excited to embark upon.
