Why We LOVE Home Education!

Each family finds home education as a unique opportunity for their own family.  I know many local families that homeschool - and we all do it differently!  Although our homeschool  has changed over the past five years, most of the reasons that we chose this journey have not changed.  It remains a great blessing to our family and we are even seeing more benefits after a few years of this type of lifestyle. 

Although I have talked about this subject a lot with close friends and family, I have never written it out for anyone else to read.  In celebration of the Hip Homeschool Moms "I *heart* Homeschooling" week I decided to write out why we really do LOVE home education!  Here are some of the main reasons that we have chosen home education as the path for our family since our oldest began Kindergarten.

B & J on our 1st day official day of homeschool, August, 2006

• I was a teacher before I became a mom, but I wanted to be a mother a long time ago when I was a little girl.  Home education allows me to follow both of these callings on my life and keep my family as one of my highest priorities!
• We are together more. I do not have regrets or guilt that I have missed too much time with my children. I am in school with them all day, teaching them, and building our relationships. It is also easier for them to see Daddy when he has some time that is not always in the evenings.
• We can travel and take vacations occasionally, building great family memories and still get in more instructional days of school each year than our public school counterparts. (We can have school and have time to play in the snow, too!

Art and science at the Wildlife Refuge

• My children fight, but they are really best friends.  They have a close relationship.
• We can do activities in the evenings, because we don't have mountains of homework to do at night and we have been around home most of the day.
• We can personalize the instruction for our children. This is great for both of them because they have different weaknesses and strengths.
• We have been able to go on SO many wonderful field trips. Learning in the real world is great fun!
• We use different materials that may not be available at other schools in our area.  We love using manipulatives, computers, and other hands-on learning activities.

Science can be fun!

• God is teaching each of us how to become more like Him.  We learn about character from how we interact with each other and I love it that the children are learning lots of these lessons in our family, not from their peers.
• We read and learn from the Bible each day and it is also brought up in other subjects like science and history.  We are learning a Biblical worldview in all areas of study and we can memorize scripture that will equip us for the long run!
• God designed families to be the primary means of education.  We want to fulfill our responsibilities to God for the children He has given to us.  

Deuteronomy 6: 5-7 "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

1st day of Kindergarten & Preschool, August, 2006

 

1st day of 4th & 2nd grades, August, 2010

To really boil this down, our faith and our family are the basic reasons that we homeschool.  So, our love for God and our love for each other are the reasons why we LOVE home education!  I am thankful that we listened and responded to this calling of God for our family and that we have the freedom to educate our children in the way that is best for us!

Our "Open House" and "Grade Promotion" Party with the grandparents, June, 2010