Friday, September 18, 2009

Thoughts on Homeschooling

I know people think I'm weird for wanting to home school. Honestly, I have always thought people who home school are weird. But here's sorta why I'm changing my mind.

First, I think it's important to stay home with your children; and we make some financial sacrifices that enable me to do that. Obviously, if for financial reasons, I had to work, I would send my children to school. So here, I'll write out my list of pros and cons for homeschooling. I know some of these aren't 'good' reasons, but they're my reasons none-the-less.

Cons:

I worry that I'm not disciplined enough.

Will my kids be socially inept? (Even though, I'm listing this as a con, I really don't think this is true, my children do not attend school or day care and are more socially inept than most children their ages).

A lot of SAH mom's use school time as special time with their younger children, or use it to get house work done, or use it to unwind.

I'm sure you can think of more cons, but those are the BIG three for me. I would not home school my children past the 8th grade, at this age, friends often become more important than family (for a time), and I wouldn't want my kids to miss out on all the awesome experiences that high school provides through extra-curricular activities.

Pros:

I really feel that private education is the way to go, as far as, your children receiving the best traditional education. However, the closest non-Catholic option for us is a 25 minute drive, one-way! It would be crazy for me and unfair to my younger children to spend 2 hours a day in a car, especially, when I can home school in 2 hours a day or less. And, it's much less expensive to home school than pay private tuition.

One-on-one attention. Even if you are homeschooling 8 children, that's still a lower child to teacher ratio than public schools. (Sorry Duggars, you can't use this one as a pro, lol).

Bonding. I think children who have a secure attachment to their parents are actually more confident as adults.

A less hectic life. I understand most people think homeschooling would make life more hectic, but I hope to put my children in dance class at three or four, music (piano or something else) at five, and I suppose I'll let them play little league if they want. We also go to church on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. I really enjoy just staying home during the day without rushing my kids out the door. I want my kids to have a relationship with me apart from me being their chauffeur.

My kids will have time to be kids. School days and years keep getting longer and longer. Homeschooling takes about two hours a day, labor day to memorial day.

Children who are home schooled properly test just as well or better than traditional school children.

I'll witness the milestones. When Evelyn started reading the other day, it was amazing! I can't imagine how I would have felt if I had missed that!

Again, I'm sure there are other pros that I missed. Like not exposing my children to the little hell'yuns in public school and being able to teach Christian beliefs and values. Honestly, while those are perks for me, they're not my main reasons. I believe Christian values can be taught while children attend public schools. And, parents are still the primary influence in a child's life, if you want your children to behavior properly, clean-up your own act - she is more likely to mirror your behavior than her classmates. Classmates can teach your child ill behavior, but I think as long as you are an in-tune parent, you can diffuse this with proper discipline:)

Again, I'm sure some people's list of pros and cons would be completely different - and many may think my list is ridiculous. But it's my list :)

2 comments:

Amanda said...

Hey, I like your list and I understand BOTH sides. It all boils down to people doing what is right for their family.

I know a big pro for families that live around us is that, when you are a family working in ministry, your nights and weekends are crammed. A lot of kids wouldn't get to spend time with one or both parents hardly at all if they were in school all day.

Also, it is so true about hectic lives! There are giant screaming matches every morning and every afternoon and every evening before bed between our neighborhood parents and kids that go to school. The homeschooling parents? Not so much. Of course there are probably other factors that play into the screaming matches, but still.

After being a teacher myself and then providing small in-home day care, I can confidently say that homeschooling, for many families, is THE way to go, for sure.

In the meantime, I think you should look for homeschooling moms in your area. I bet you could get some good ideas and tips, and maybe set up play dates or something.

Anonymous said...

I home school noth of my kids, My daughter is 14 and my son is 9. They are just finr socially because we go to church and they play with their friends in the neighborhood. They do better at learning because I am able to help them one on one, that is very important especially if they don't understand something. I also homeschool them because I am a Christian and don't want them associated with the garbage that is taught in public schools or around people that can bring them down or try to change their views of our Lord Jesus Christ ! So home schooling is a good thing. I use to think it was weird years ago but then I realized it is more beneficial for them and me learning wise and Christian wise.

Heather