Don't take offense to the title of this post. I am not judging anyone, nor do I think it is wrong to send your kids to school. It is totally a personal decision and is different for everyone. I just heard this "schools are for fish" recently and had to laugh. I am a homeschooler, as most of you know. I was homeschooled, my husband was homeschooled, my mother-in-law is STILL homeschooling (unschooling actually), and now we homeschool our kids.
Why????
Some days I ask myself that same question. So much work! Well...some days it feels that way, but really it's not.
I homeschool because I get to be with my kids all the time and I don't miss anything!
I am best friends with them because I know so much about them. I spend so much time with them. I can guide and love and laugh with them. It's FUN!
I am learning just as much as they are, if not more, and I love learning!
It is a blessing to be able to teach my children. I get to choose what they learn, when they learn it, how they learn it, if it's important for them to learn it, etc.
Each child learns differently, so we tweak our "curriculum" to meet their specific needs. They get one on one whenever they need it.
They are learning life skills at home with their siblings. Learning to get along with people is very important and what better way than to learn to get along with your own siblings? It's easy to be nice to a stranger. Not so much when it's your own flesh and blood. That takes SKILLS! (and patience)
Some days, we do lots of bookwork. I like to have goals for the kids and actually cover material........BUT if it ain't fun and it ain't colorful and it ain't interesting.......we don't do it! I spend a bit of time each summer talking with the kids to find out what they hated about the previous school year, how they wish it could be different, and what they would rather do. Then I go through some curriculum websites and store websites and find stuff that will teach them what they need to learn in a way they will LOVE to learn it. If they love learning, they will learn. If they hate every minute of it and you have to spoon feed it to them, then it's probably a waste of everybody's time.
Logan really didn't like math and it was such a drag to try to get him to do it. But he loves computer, so now we do math on the computer and it's his favorite subject! (He also really likes to play monopoly a lot, which teaches him how to be $$$ savvy)
Today, he wasn't really into doing bookwork. He was struggling with a couple of things and was having trouble concentrating, so instead I got him to take apart Daisy's music box that wasn't working so well and figure out how it works and what's causing it to jam up and fix it. So much more fun, so much more practical, and a very useful skill. Problem solving and mechanics 101......never mind relationship building and a very nice thing to do for his sister!
Then Jasna wanted to rollerblade........IN THE HOUSE. lol That's what you get when you're on an acreage and nothing is paved, I guess. So Logan put on his rollerblades, too, and they rollerbladed around my dining room for a bit. Now they are in the playroom playing VERY nicely together. Using their imaginations. Logan asked if he could teach Jasna how to play spongebob monopoly later.........sure! That sounds very educational and would be a great relationship builder and character builder all in one! Go for it.
Yes, we'll get to the boring Language Arts book later today, but I'll find a way to make it interesting for him. He'll get to have some quality time with mom, which he values, and then maybe when we're done that we can compete on his new Mario DS game! (I'm soooo gonna win this time!)
Jasna comes up to me all the time and says stuff like,
"Mama, please can you teach me how to make cupcakes!!!!"
"Mama, please can you teach me how to play this game!"
"Mama, please can you teach me how to make dresses!"
"Mama, please can you teach me how to make lemonade!"
You get the idea. She wants me to teach her everything. Yesterday it was making french toast. She is gonna make some guy a nice little wife some day! :)
So those are some of the reasons we homeschool. Not all the reasons, but it's a start :) Enjoy the pics!
Why????
Some days I ask myself that same question. So much work! Well...some days it feels that way, but really it's not.
I homeschool because I get to be with my kids all the time and I don't miss anything!
I am best friends with them because I know so much about them. I spend so much time with them. I can guide and love and laugh with them. It's FUN!
I am learning just as much as they are, if not more, and I love learning!
It is a blessing to be able to teach my children. I get to choose what they learn, when they learn it, how they learn it, if it's important for them to learn it, etc.
Each child learns differently, so we tweak our "curriculum" to meet their specific needs. They get one on one whenever they need it.
They are learning life skills at home with their siblings. Learning to get along with people is very important and what better way than to learn to get along with your own siblings? It's easy to be nice to a stranger. Not so much when it's your own flesh and blood. That takes SKILLS! (and patience)
Some days, we do lots of bookwork. I like to have goals for the kids and actually cover material........BUT if it ain't fun and it ain't colorful and it ain't interesting.......we don't do it! I spend a bit of time each summer talking with the kids to find out what they hated about the previous school year, how they wish it could be different, and what they would rather do. Then I go through some curriculum websites and store websites and find stuff that will teach them what they need to learn in a way they will LOVE to learn it. If they love learning, they will learn. If they hate every minute of it and you have to spoon feed it to them, then it's probably a waste of everybody's time.
Logan really didn't like math and it was such a drag to try to get him to do it. But he loves computer, so now we do math on the computer and it's his favorite subject! (He also really likes to play monopoly a lot, which teaches him how to be $$$ savvy)
Today, he wasn't really into doing bookwork. He was struggling with a couple of things and was having trouble concentrating, so instead I got him to take apart Daisy's music box that wasn't working so well and figure out how it works and what's causing it to jam up and fix it. So much more fun, so much more practical, and a very useful skill. Problem solving and mechanics 101......never mind relationship building and a very nice thing to do for his sister!
Jasna comes up to me all the time and says stuff like,
"Mama, please can you teach me how to make cupcakes!!!!"
"Mama, please can you teach me how to play this game!"
"Mama, please can you teach me how to make dresses!"
"Mama, please can you teach me how to make lemonade!"
You get the idea. She wants me to teach her everything. Yesterday it was making french toast. She is gonna make some guy a nice little wife some day! :)
So those are some of the reasons we homeschool. Not all the reasons, but it's a start :) Enjoy the pics!
Great post!
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