Around this time of year in 2014, I had made the decision to homeschool. My husband had suggested it the year before, but as a prior public school teacher it took me awhile to get onboard with the idea. My eldest daughter has autism, and although she had done well in the preschool program for children with disabilities, she struggled with the larger classrooms and dynamics of kinder and first grade. It was during that first grade year that we decided to transition to homeschooling the next year.
The years have held their share of struggles and bumps along the way, but the blessing of homeschooling have been so abundant that I have not regretted the decision in the least. In case anyone else is on the fence about whether or not it will be the right choice for their family, or just having a rough year and wondering if they should stick with it, I put together a short list of reasons.
My top 5 reasons to love homeschooling:
- Time with my kids: Seriously, this has been one of the biggest blessings, to have the time with my kids. Yes, our kids can drive us crazy, and the the breaks are few and far between, and we lost out on all of those years of my teaching income, but I would not give up the time spent educating, learning, and adventuring with my three kiddos during our homeschool journey for all anything.
- Getting to choose their educational resources: One of the perks of homeschooling is getting to choose, and change, the curriculum for each subject. We could add in books, videos, games, and field trips as desired. Some years we participated in homeschool groups and co-ops. Each year started afresh with new possibilities, and I got to choose the resources that worked best for our family to make those plans and goals come to fruition.
- Flexibility: Homeschool offered me the ability to change math curriculum when it did not work for my middle child. It gave my oldest daughter the unlimited time she needed to complete assignments. It allowed my youngest to take a completely different path for her high school English class than her two older sisters due to her own strong preferences about the curriculum.
- Life throws curve balls: There are major events that could have caused a significant disruption to our children’s education had we not been homeschooling. Loss of my dad and a 10-year consulting job during the pandemic, moving to a different city, and my daughter’s cancer diagnosis were some pretty hefty loads carried in the past few years. I don’t know how I personally would have made it through some of these events as a parent without homeschooling. Homeschool gave us flexibility to adjust schedules, security of a routine when things seemed a little crazy, and peace of being at home through hard days.
- Maturity and responsibility: Circling back to reason #1, I have been blessed to watch my my children grow and mature through their homeschool opportunities. Not only did they embrace homeschooling, they have matured academically and learned to take responsibility for their own education. I see them studying, finding resources for help, using the campus library, communicating with professors, prioritizing tasks, and managing time. Being homeschooled built a solid foundation for college and whatever lies beyond.
Yes, my kids have missed out on some of the positive public school experiences, but the opportunities available through homeschool just do not compare. Each year they were given a choice, and they chose to homeschool. I am so glad that they did.
North Star Homeschool Resources 