Why We Homeschool
We are entering our seventh week of homeschooling our 8-year-old son. As I've mentioned before, it's all going very well. Better than expected, in fact.
Through IDVA outings and activities, we've met many other homeschooling families and have heard just about every reason as to why people choose this option for their kids. Most of them are homeschooling for religious reasons. Others live in remote areas. Some had bad experiences with the public schools.
Our reason for homeschooling falls into none of those categories. Our religious beliefs didn't enter into the decision. We don't live on some isolated mountain top. And, in the three years our son was in the local public schools, we never had a single bad experience.
Quite simply, it came down to a realization that the education my son was receiving in the traditional classroom was merely good, bordering on average. Three years of watching him, being involved, and volunteering in the schools opened my eyes to the fact that our schools can only do so much. Some kids thrive in that system. Other kids get lost. Most kids do well but never excel.
My son always did well in school, but there were too many days when he was bored or ignored. Too much time wasted and opportunities squandered. Over the past year we explored the various forms of homeschooling and it didn't take long for us to decide that this was the way for us to go.
We're lucky enough to be in a situation, with one at-home parent, that makes it easy to homeschool. If we couldn't do it I wouldn't feel too bad about leaving my son in the traditional public school setting. With limited resources and crowded classrooms, they do a good job educating children. But I can do better than just "good" for my kids.
And that is why we homeschool.
Through IDVA outings and activities, we've met many other homeschooling families and have heard just about every reason as to why people choose this option for their kids. Most of them are homeschooling for religious reasons. Others live in remote areas. Some had bad experiences with the public schools.
Our reason for homeschooling falls into none of those categories. Our religious beliefs didn't enter into the decision. We don't live on some isolated mountain top. And, in the three years our son was in the local public schools, we never had a single bad experience.
Quite simply, it came down to a realization that the education my son was receiving in the traditional classroom was merely good, bordering on average. Three years of watching him, being involved, and volunteering in the schools opened my eyes to the fact that our schools can only do so much. Some kids thrive in that system. Other kids get lost. Most kids do well but never excel.
My son always did well in school, but there were too many days when he was bored or ignored. Too much time wasted and opportunities squandered. Over the past year we explored the various forms of homeschooling and it didn't take long for us to decide that this was the way for us to go.
We're lucky enough to be in a situation, with one at-home parent, that makes it easy to homeschool. If we couldn't do it I wouldn't feel too bad about leaving my son in the traditional public school setting. With limited resources and crowded classrooms, they do a good job educating children. But I can do better than just "good" for my kids.
And that is why we homeschool.
Permalink posted by Idaho Dad at 11:29 PM
7 Comments:
It sounds like you guys made a good decision. Careful though, because I hear there is a correlation between homeschooling and militia-in-the-backwoods involvment. Totally kidding. :) Really though, great choice and I wish you all the best. I am glad to hear that you are really putting your son first in this decision.
This is the best reason that I could imagine. I know that I would be apprehensive taking on what seems to be such an enormous task. I'm glad that things are working out so well.
You.are.awesome.
Really proud of you Phil. Wish you all the best.
I agree, you have chosen wisely! Your children are blessed with you two as parents.
I think that's the best reason of all. I know I will put my kids in traditional school, but I'm also looking forward to doing lots of "school" activities where they have additional learning. Field trips, science projects, plays... there's so many other ways to learn and so much more to learn than just the school curriculum.
P.S. The Metropolitan Museum catalog has some great learning tools for kids!
Hi Phil, I am also attempting to 'homeschool' or unschool my 5 year old and some days I am so enthusiastic and things go really well and I can't stop grinning, but then other days my natural undisciplined self makes me a very bad homeschool parent... I wish you the best! I love the whole concept of homeschooling.
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