Top 5 Reasons We Chose Homeschooling

I often get asked the question: what made you decide to start homeschooling?

Well the truth is there isn’t one big things that led us to that decision, but rather a lot of little things. Ultimately it was God that led us down this path.

While there are lots of reasons, I broke it down to the top 5 reasons we chose homeschooling for our family. Maybe you will discover that it can be a good fit for your family too!

Reason #1: We can give our children a customized education

What do I mean by that? Well one really great thing about homeschooling is the ability to go at your child’s pace. If your child excels in Math, then you can bump him/her up to the next grade level without disrupting the other subjects. On the other hand, if your child struggles in a particular subject, you can take him/her down a grade level and give the extra attention needed. Think 1 on 1 tutoring for their entire education.

In addition to that, another way that we customize our children’s education, is finding a curriculum that suits their learning styles, as well as, my teaching style. There is no “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to your child’s education.  Just this year, I purchased a curriculum and switched the whole things halfway through the year because it just wasn’t working for us.

If the shoes doesn’t fit, don’t force it on. You’ll get blisters.

Reason #2: We can give our kids a Christian education, without the cost of private school tuition

Is it possible to teach your child Truth and character train them when they are in school all day? Absolutely. But it takes intentional action in the shorter time you have together. I watch some of my friends do this beautifully.

We wanted to give our children an education intertwined with God’s word. To show them that there is no part of life that is meant to be separate from God. God is in every part of our day. Every breath we take, every letter we write, every math problem we do, it’s all because he gave us the ability to do so. Without Him, we just can’t.

We could have paid top dollar to give them a Christian education, but Luke and I are passionate about taking ownership over that. It is our responsibility to raise our children to walk with the Lord. No one else

Choosing homeschool for us, allows us to more naturally teach our children God’s word, rather than cramming it into smaller chunks. What can I say? We like the slower paced life!

Reason #3: We live on a Farm… let me explain

By no means are we the equivalent of settlers living off the land. Heck I can’t even manage a successful garden! (Though it is on my bucket list… I WILL have a “green thumb” before it’s all over).

However, we do live on a farm. My husband machine farms a majority of it and we have horses and great farm dog and will soon have bunnies and kittens as well! There is so much work to be done at all times. I am not saying that for pity or to make you think we are really great because quite frankly, farm work makes my husband peaceful and fulfilled. (The thought of cleaning stalls as relaxing used to sound crazy to this city girl turned farmers’ wife… but it has grown on me over the years).

Bottom line is this… we view the farm as a great opportunity to teach our kids how to work hard first hand. Homeschooling is about so much more than education. As a matter of fact, character training should always come first. If we succeed in graduating these littles, yet they don’t know how to work… well, then we have failed! A great mind that is lazy is useless.

One of my favorite quotes is “hustle beats talent, when talent doesn’t hustle.”

Am I saying that you have to live on a farm to teach your kids hard work? Absolutely not.

I grew up on  a 1/4 acre lot in a neighborhood and my parents did a tremendous job of teaching me how to work hard.

It simply requires being intentional on our parts. Having a plan for our children and taking action to achieve the goals we have for our kids.

We have the opportunity to train them up on the farm and for that reason we felt homeschooling would be a good fit. It allows more time for chores!

Reason #4: They just grow too darn fast, we didn’t want to miss out on life with them

As I write this, our daughter will be 8 this year and our son will be 7. We are creeping uncomfortably close to the halfway point. We only get so much time with these kids. We only get so much time to raise them up in the way that they should go so that when they are older they will not stray from it (Proverb 22:6, paraphrase).

We see homeschooling as such a blessing. We get to be a part of and witness nearly every single “first”. To hear the excitement in your child’s voice when they surprise themselves reading for the first time. Or when they finally write their numbers the right direction. Or that moment when they finish an entire workbook and are SO proud they completed it (or as my children say “graduated” a workbook). Or watching them grow confidence as they are able to color in the lines for the first time.

Seriously my son believed he was incapable of coloring in the lines. This sounds simple, but really the pattern is the same for all of raising kids. They try something new and a little challenging for them. They think they are incapable especially if they see an older sibling who is able when they aren’t. As parents it’s our task to speak truth into those minds. It’s our jobs to tell them that with enough persistence and hard work, they can! They can. Bottom line.

I get to be a part of every one of those moments. It’s humbling.

Is it always beautiful? NO. Do we get sick of eachother? Yes. Do I sometimes wish I had some more time alone? Absolutely.

It’s raw, it’s real life and it is such a great thing to be a part of.

Reason #5: We can shelter them…. yep I said it!

So this one might get some jeers, criticism, negative feedback. But I am okay with that.

As parents, we firmly believe it is our job to teach our kids Truth. God’s word. Unfiltered, not watered down Truth. The real stuff.

We want to be the ones to teach them this.

Not only this, but the other things in life. The things that are less fun to talk about. Sexual education. Crime. Wars. Alcohol. Drugs. Homosexuality. Other religions. Satan. Human trafficking. Evolution. Darwinism. Hell. The list goes on.

When I say we “shelter” them, I don’t mean that we neglect to talk about reality with them. No absolutely not. What a disservice it would be to our children (not to mention culturally shocking), if we sent them out into the world as adults, without talking to them about the heavy stuff.

We “shelter” them in that we want them to see those things through the light of a Biblical worldview.

We want them to see how it all fits into the bigger picture.

We want them to know that we are there for them when they have questions. We want them to know that the lines of communication are open even, and especially, when it comes to the hard stuff.

It is a commitment we have made publicly to God and to our children to do our very best to raise them in light of the Truth.

So those are the top 5 reasons we chose to homeschool. We don’t regret it. It’s not the easy route. It requires an incredible amount of prayer and trust in the Lord, but that is the case for all parenting in general no matter how you choose to educate your children!

Do you feel a nudge to homeschool? I love to chat with people about it. Feel free to email me, pick my brain. I’d love to talk!

xoxo

Allison